


everything stays

by SportsAnimeRuinedMyLife (KnightOfRage)



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Post-Game(s), Reunions, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-15 23:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8076364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightOfRage/pseuds/SportsAnimeRuinedMyLife
Summary: "Wow.” Sorey can’t stop smiling. His face actually hurts from it. “And I actually thought you looked cool for a minute there.” “You thought I looked cool?” Mikleo asks. “It’s too late you ruined it by falling into a hole and crying on me.”   Or...even after five-hundred years apart, Sorey and Mikleo manage to find their way back to each other.





	1. after the night

As Sorey sleeps, he dreams.

Not often, not intensely, but sometimes he sees images of a blonde girl, later a woman, and he feels like he knows her even if stops being able to recall how. There’s a red-haired girl, later a woman, who is dressed in brown leather and later a black and white cape and he feels like he knows her even if stops being able to recall how.

He sees cities and towns and empty fields and people and life and life and _life_.

But then he falls back into the deep, silent dark and he sleeps.

He never thought of the dark as healing, but it is. Nothing evil pierces the soft black and together, him and this existence so much more than him, they sleep. They recover. They wait.

Sorey waits in the darkness for a long, long time and he feels the world heal itself. Sorey waits in the darkness and, slowly, slowly, he forgets the world he sacrificed himself to save.

He forgets himself too.

And still, he sleeps. He dreams.

Time passes.

And then he wakes.

It’s a slow process. His body feels wrong, unfamiliar. He opens his eyes and it’s mostly dark, but even the pale shards of light that have managed to come this far feel like daggers to his eyes.

He starts to breath on his own and it hurts, it _hurts_. It feels like being born.

**Ah, brave shepherd.**

For a minute, the thinks those are his own thoughts, but no. That’s the Other, the one that he slept to save. What was the Other called...what…

**I am Maotelus, my friend,** The voice rumbles, **And it is high time that you woke up.**

He wants to speak, to ask how long he’s been sleeping, but he’s not sure if he remembers how.

**I am afraid it was too long for your old body to wait,** The voice sounds regretful, sad, **You have been reborn.**

He looks down at his hands, barely visible in the near-darkness, and he tries to remember how to speak. The words come slowly, creaky and painful like a door with a bad hinge, “W-what...what was I...b-before?”

**You were human,** the voice tells him, and **now you are seraph**.

“S-seraph?” He coughs.

**Yes. Your time as the shepherd and my companion are done, young seraph. Now, your life is yours to spend however you wish.**

He swallows. Shepherd...that seems familiar. He was...a shepherd, no, _the_ shepherd. He was the shepherd, wasn’t he?

“What do I do now?” He asks the darkness. “Where should I go?”

**Go and relearn the world, my friend. You have slept for a very long time.**

“And then?” He asks.

**If you wish it, seek out the Green Knight ruins once you are ready and you will find someone waiting for you there.**

“I see...thank you Maotelus.” He says.

**No, Sorey** , the voice says, **Thank you.**

Oh.

Sorey...that’s his name. Right, right...of course it is.

It takes him a while before he can move his body. He’s lying in...is this a tomb? The lid of it is broken, enough to let dim light through, and it’s light enough for him to push it away.

He sits up and it takes more effort than he would like. He’s sitting in the middle of a cavern with high rocky ceilings that are cracked just enough to let thin streams of sunlight in. He hears water trickling somewhere unseen. Fire dances in the sconces lining the walls. Wind circulates through it, making the air feel fresh and clean.

Sorey stands and takes in the cavern. It’s beautiful and there is nothing in but the tomb where he was sleeping, a box in the center of the empty cave.

There is a set of stairs on the far side, leading up and out. Light is visible up those steps. Sorey thinks he’d like to see the sunlight.

He walks up the steps and out of the cavern. His progress is slow and halting, but when he finally emerges it is to a seemingly endless field of flowers. Blue, purple, white...it looks like an ocean made of plants. Ocean...has he been to an ocean? He can’t remember…

There is no one else in the field. No animals either, except for some bees that buzz around lazily and seem content to ignore him.

He walks through the field, stopping every now and then to rest and take in the scenery. How long have these flowers been here? Did someone plant them here or did they grow naturally?

He wants to know, wants to figure it out.

He sits again, surrounded by flowers and sunshine. So he’s curious, that he has a desire to know more about things than what can be easily seen. That’s something he didn’t know before.

“Ruin geek.” He says out loud. He doesn’t exactly know where it comes from or even what it means, but it feels right. Important.

Sorey, who was a shepherd, is a ruin geek. Sorey, who sacrificed himself to save everyone, is curious and wants to learn.

Slowly, slowly, Sorey is learning himself. Mapping himself out like an unfamiliar country.

He eventually gets to his feet and makes his way to the edge of the field of flowers. There’s a stream there and he looks in it, examining the face that looks back. He looks...young. Younger than he feels, at any rate. A young man with long brown hair that’s tipped in red. His eyes seem to be wavering between green and amber, like they can’t decide which to be.

“Hello, Sorey.” He says to the reflection.

Predictably, the reflection doesn’t say anything back.

He runs fingers through his long, admittedly kind of ratty hair and wishes he had something to tie it back with. Something with feathers. He looks at the glove on his hand. For some reason, feathers feel important.

There are a lot of things that feel important that he can’t remember.

He does what he can with his hair, trying to comb it out with his fingers and eventually just giving up. He lets it hang down, hopelessly tangled, and hopes that sooner or later he can find a blade to hack it off with.

His hand goes to his waist. There isn’t a sword hanging there like he expects there to be.

Shepherd Sorey used a sword. New information, new paths to draw.

He wonders for a little bit if he should just stay in the field of flowers. It’s a nice place, just him and the sun and the bees. But...no. Maotelus said someone was waiting for him.

So he leaves the peaceful field and heads down the mountains.

There is no path so the going is slow. Sorey trips over tree roots and into puddles and often has to take long meandering detours around obstacles he can’t pass. The make him feel strange, large rocks blocking his path and gaps that are too wide to jump. He feels bizarrely like he used to be able to get through them no problem, but that wouldn’t be right.

It wouldn’t make sense for a human, would it? And he was human, wasn't he?

He wishes he had paper and pen to write all his questions down.

It takes a little over a week thanks to all the breaks he needs to take to rest, but Sorey manages to get down the mountain and he finds himself in a village. Well, no, not a village. A ruin.

He lets himself geek out over it a bit. He figures that he deserves it.

He pokes through the building, tries to find anything useable in the ivy-covered remains of houses. It’s not like he knows this place well, but It’s not completely unfamiliar either. Camlann...that’s the name, isn’t it? Sorey’s been here before.

He blows dust off of an inscription on a boulder and lets himself wonder if it had been a whole village or a ruin the last time he was there. What happened to the people here? Were they…

No, no. It’s not worth worrying about.

Sorey lets himself spend a whole day in Camlann. There isn’t anything usable in the ruins, but Sorey finds a flat, sunny place to take a long nap. He doesn’t think that he needs sleep. He went days without it up in the field of flowers.

But it’s relaxing and gives him a little bit of time off from thinking. He’s been thinking so much since he woke up.

There’s so much he doesn’t know.

He dreams and while he does he sees faces that he knows and loves, hears names and voices that he was prepared to die to protect. He knows them, the knows them, he…

He wakes up with a mouthful of names he can’t remember and eyes that are wet with tears he can’t make himself cry.

“Someone is waiting for me.” He reminds himself out loud and he gets to his feet, brushing the dirt off his clothes. They’re white and soft and were with him when he woke up. They're a strange kind of almost familiar. A lot of things are almost familiar.

Sorey doesn’t know which way to go to get to the Green Knight ruins so he just picks a direction and walks.

He walks for days, stopping occasionally to sleep or just to stare at the white clouds as they roll past. He thinks it must be summer. The breezes that roll past are warm and smell like flowers and earth and growing things.

He comes across a road entirely by accident. It’s small. A dirt road, not a paved one, but he decides to follow it. For most of a day he does and sees no one.

But then,

“Hey there, mister Seraph!” There is boy with skinned knees and a grin that’s missing teeth standing at the edge of the road and smiling at him.

It’s the first person Sorey has seen in a very, very long time.

“You know I’m a seraph?” Sorey blinks at him.

“Well, sure!” The boy looks to be about nine or ten years old. “I can only really see you when I squint like this, see?” The boy squints to demonstrate and Sorey bites back a laugh.

“Oh really?”

“Yep! A lot of others in the village can see you guys without squintin’ but I gotta.”

“You live in a village?” Sorey asks. “Is it near here?”

“Jus’ a mile or so down the road.” The boy hitches his thumb over his shoulder. “D’you wanna some with me? Millie won’t believe I saw a real live seraph n’less she sees you too!”

“Millie?” Sorey repeats.

“My sister!” The boy tells him.

Sister...Sorey thinks of red and blonde hair and doesn’t know why his mouth suddenly feels dry and his eyes feel wet.

“I, ah…”

“C’mon mister seraph! I know the whole village’d wanna meet you! Pleeeeease?”

Sorey is sure that, whether he’s human or seraph, he’s always been weak to little kids looking up at him with big eyes and asking for favors. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt…”

“Yahoo!” The boy punches the air. “Like I said, ain’t far now! You just follow me!”

They make their way to the village, which the boy informs him is called Beech Grove. The boy, who has been informed is called Del, peppers him with questions about where he’s from and why he’s around, squinting all the while to get a clear view of him.

Sorey doesn’t really have answers to any of the questions. He doesn’t even tell Del his name...he’s just not sure if he should. He doesn’t know how long he’s been asleep, who Sorey even was. He’s not ready to be him in front of other people yet.

Maybe, he thinks, it’s good he hasn’t managed to find the Green Knight ruin. He’s not sure how to be Sorey for anyone, let alone for whoever is waiting there.

When they get to the village, Sorey is mobbed by children and adults alike. Some clearly can’t see him, but many others can and for some reason that strikes him as odd. Have humans always been able to see seraphim like this?

After a while, an old man who is apparently Del’s grandfather and the village chief, leads him away from the commotion with a sympathetic smile.

“M’sorry, Mister Seraph. We don’t get much in the way of visitors this far out, my boy.” The old man says. “The kids ain’t usually so excited.”

“Aha, it’s fine.” Sorey laughs. “I’m just surprised that so many of them can see me.”

“Oh?” The man looks surprised. “Mosta the village can see seraphim. S’that different from where you come from?”

For some reason, Sorey wants to cry.

“Yeah.” He manages to say. “It’s different.”

“Well, if you don’t mind a coupla nosey kids, you can stay here,” The man seems to sense that Sorey doesn’t really want to talk about it further so he changes the subject. Sorey is grateful.

“I have somewhere I need to go…”

“Y’look tired, m’boy.” The man pats him on the arm. “Take a few days n’rest.”

Sorey doesn’t want to keep whoever is waiting for him longer than he has to, but...well. He _is_ tired. Strange how sleeping for hundreds of years can make him so tired.

“Yeah. Thank you.” He says. “Sorry, I forgot to ask your name.”

“S’no trouble. I’m Lazlo.” He says. “If you wanna follow I got a spare room you can stay long as you need. Should be a little small, but…”

“I’m sure it’s just perfect, Mister Lazlo.” Sorey says.

Lazlo laughs. “Ain’t no one around here ever called me mister before, sure never a seraph neither.”

“Well, you’re helping me.” Sorey says with a smile. “So I’ll do my best to respect you.”

“You’re a young seraph, ain’t cha?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“I know kids when I seem ‘em.” Lazlo says. “And you’re a kid, Mister Seraph.”

Sorey smiles again, sadder this time. “I guess you’re right.”

Lazlo pats his arm. “C’mon. You need a bath and some sleep.”

Sorey can’t find a reason to argue, so he follows.

**~~~~**

Sorey stays for over a week in Beech Grove.

Lazlo’s spare room is small, but warm and the people who come to speak with him are warmer still.

Lazlo’s daughter, a kind woman with work-rough hands and smile lines, comes over and helps Sorey comb through his hair.

“I didn’t think tha’ seraphs could get tangled hair.” She says, drawing a comb through his hair. It feels nice.

“Yeah me neither.” He says. He knew a seraph, didn’t he, who had long hair that was never tangled. It always seemed perfect and...and...he can’t remember any more than that. “Thank you for helping me with this.”

“No problem, hon.” She says. “You want me ta cut it or d’you wanna tie up?”

“Tie it up for now.”

The next day he goes out for a few hours and ranges around the wood until he finds a couple of feathers. They’re white and brown and that doesn’t feel...quite right, but he ties them in his hair anyway. He finds a few more, a bit smaller, and hooks them into metal clasps he found for his ears.

There. That’s better.

He doesn’t know why the feathers are important, just that they are.

When he gets back, he finds Del and Mellie waiting for him at the edge of the village.

“There ya are!” Del cries. “We thought you’d gone for good, didn’t we?”

“I didn’!” Mellie protests. “I knew you was gonna come back!”

“I was just out for a walk.” Sorey says, smiling and patting them on the heads. “I didn’t mean to worry anyone.” Mellie takes one of his hands and Del takes the other, characteristically squinting. “Let’s get back to your grandpa’s house, yeah? We wouldn’t want him worrying.”

They let him walk them back, but ply him with their endless questions all the while.

“Why’re you wearin’ feathers?” Del asks.

“They’re important to me.” Sorey says honestly because that’s the best answer he has right now.

“Huh.” Del seems to find it answer enough.

“What kinda seraph are you, mister?” Mellie pipes up. “I ain’t seen you use any artes so I dunno!”

“Well, I…” Sorey stops and thinks about it. “Huh. I guess I don’t know either.”

“Don’t you gotta know?”

Sorey laughs. “Probably.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I’m not very good at being a seraph yet.”

“Wasn’t you always a seraph?” Mellie asks, pulling on his sleeve.

“It’s...complicated.” He says and is saved from more endless questions by their arrival at Lazlo’s house.

“Shoo, you two.” Lazlo waves Del and Millie off. “Go’n run back to your mother. She’s been waitin’.”

“Sorry.” Sorey says after they’ve gone home. “They were out looking for me.”

“You don’t need to explain.” Lazlo pats his arm. “I thought you mighta left...I know you ain’t stayin’ too long.”

“Yeah.” Sorey says. “I'm planning to head out soon. You wouldn’t happen to have a map I could look at? I have no idea where I’m going.”

Lazlo laughs. “It’s a bit old, but I got one.”

“Thank you.”

“S’no trouble.”

That night Sorey pours over the map, but he doesn't see anything called Green Knight ruins. When he asks Lazlo he doesn't know either. Eventually they agree that the best thing to do is to go to a big city that would likely have better maps. Lazlo points out Ladylake, a city that's little over a week's walk away.

“That there s’one of the biggest cities in Hyland.” Lazlo says “If you're lookin for something tha's where your gonna find it.”

Sorey decides to leave the next morning. The longer he stays in Beech Grove, the less he wants to leave.

Lazlo wakes with him at dawn so Sorey can leave without being mobbed and cried on by children. He supplies Sorey with some worn but comfortable clothes, sturdy boots, an old journal to write in and a pen to write with and a rucksack full of provisions he doesn’t actually need.

“Thank you so much, Lazlo. You didn't have to do this.”

“Reckon there still something good ‘bout being good to the seraphim.”

“Right.” Sorey says, shouldering his pack. “I’ll come back and visit once I’ve figured this out.”

“Make sure you do, boy. Mellie and Del’ll miss you something terrible.”

Sorey turns to go, but his steps slow before he’s gone more than a few feet. There's been a question on his mind the whole while he’s been here, so he finally asks it, looking out to the road in front of him. “Lazlo...how come you aren’t phased by all this?”

He laughs. “I’ve lived a long time, m’boy.” Lazlo says. “Seen things stranger’n a seraph like you.”

His whole life...Sorey blinks. This man lived his whole, long life while Sorey was asleep. It seems incredible. Astounding. There are probably so many people who lived and then died while Sorey slept.

It's remarkable and strange to think about. Maybe even a bit terrifying. Now that he's a seraph its he'll likely outlive many more people.

He eventually need to figure out what type he is…but that's a question that can wait until later.

He glances back and smiles at the old man standing at the gate of his village. “Goodbye, Lazlo.” Sorey says. “Thank you for letting me stay with you.”

Lazlo waves a dismissive hand. “Stay safe and may the Shepherd watch over ya.” He says and Sorey starts just a little. “I hope you find what you’re lookin’ for.”

“Yeah.” Sorey turns back to face the road. “Me too.”

 

* * *

 

“I could come with you, Mikleo!”

“Lailah, I am a grown-up! I can handle it!”

“But the ruins are so far…and no one has explored them in a thousand years!”

“That’s kind of the appeal.”

“Mikelo!” Lailah complains.

Mikleo simply shakes his head.

It’s been more than five hundred years since they met. Mikleo is 542 years old, fully grown by any standard of the word, and still every time they meet Lailah seems determined to act like his overprotective mom. It’s extremely annoying, but kind of nice too.

Not that he’d ever tell her the second part.

“I’ll be fine!” Mikleo says. “And you’ve got things to do at Tintagel, right? What if the shepherd needs you?”

They’re at an inn a day or so away from the Tintagel Ruins, a place that has managed to serve as the base of operations for shepherds, squires and their seraph companions for over five centuries now. Mikleo has a room here that he used to use for storage, but he hasn’t actually been back to the ruins themselves in a few decades.

He gave up the reins to being the resident water sublord a few generations back, ready to travel and write after so long fighting. Zaveid and Edna left even before he did. Lailah, though, has stayed on as the prime lord since Sorey went to sleep. They don’t see each other as often now, with Mikleo’s travels, Edna and Zaveid’s various adventures and Lailah’s continuing duties.

Still, all of Sorey’s original seraphs do keep in touch. A journey like the one they had managed to forge the sort of bonds that aren’t easily broken.

“We haven’t seen a hellion in _months_.” Lailah says, waving down a bartender and pointing at an ale. “And it’s been years since there’s actually been one strong enough to need my help to quell. The Sub Lords can handle it!”

“What is they’re all camping out, waiting for you to leave?” Mikleo shakes his head when the bartender looks at him. He’s leaving shortly....he doesn’t want to start a tab.

“I’m sure that they’re not...hey!” She pouts. “You’re making fun of me!”

“I would never.” He says, shifting and glancing at the door.

“Hmph.” She folds her arms. “I miss it when you were easy to tease.”

“Well, I’m way more mature now.” He brushes a few wayward strands of hair away from his face.

“Of course you are... _Meebo_.”

“I told you not to call me that!”

She laughs, high and delighted. “Some things never change, do they?”

Mikleo rolls his eyes, but thinks of the worn and well-used copy of the celestial record nestled at the bottom of the bag slung over his shoulder.

“I guess they don’t.”

**~~~~**

He decides to stop at Elysia first.

It’s not strictly on the way to the ruins, but he hasn’t been back in a few years and he’s starting to miss everyone.

Besides, they’ll want some sweets.

At first, requests for sweets and other foods from the human world were how the seraphs in Elysia made Mikleo come back at all. He didn’t really want to see Elysia after everything that happened...too much of it reminded him of Gramps and Sorey.

So they started to ask him to come back and make them ice cream or buy them treats from the human cities. It was...hard those first dozen or so years alone after so long being half of a pair and a child to a guardian. The other Elysians were probably right to be worried.

But, eventually, he learned how to cope. He traveled the world and fought alongside Rose the new shepherd and brought sweets back to Elysia when he could.

At first, he’s sure it was a way to keep tabs on him and make sure he was all right. But now his old village is legitimately eager for him to come back so they can get more human food.

Mikleo has urged them to visit the human cities themselves since so many humans can see them now, but even five centuries after his death, Zenrus’s influence remains. Stay isolated and stay out it...the creed of Elysia.

That’s another reason why Mikleo can’t stay. He’s seen too much of the world to be content in one corner.

Before Elysia, he stops at Ladylake, still standing but remarkably different than it had been the first time he ventured there. He wanders for most of the day, taking in the changes. It’s been a couple of decades since he’s been to Ladylake. His favorite inn is still there, managed by the daughter of the previous owner, but a bookstore he liked has been shut down and replaced with a butcher shop.

Ah, well. Nothing can stay the same for too long in a human city.

He eventually makes his way to a sweet shop where the owner can see him, and buys as many cakes and candies as he can manage to carry.

The lady who sells them to him seems flustered, blushing and stuttering. Mikleo supposes that it is odd he’s buying so many. She’s probably embarrassed about that.

“So you like sweet things?” She asks.

“I suppose.” He gained a taste for them when he used to make them for Sorey that hasn’t gone away.

“W-well make sure you come back whenever you want more!” She stutters.

“I will.” He says, not bothering to add that he likely won’t be in the city again during her lifetime. Ladylake makes him miss too many people who are gone...he tries not to go there all that often.

He leaves him a wave of thanks and she giggles in return.

Humans. Always doing things that don’t make sense.

Mikleo makes his way out of Ladylake, walking past the statue of Sorey they have near the city gates. Alisha had it commissioned for the tenth anniversary of the end of the Age of Chaos. People rush past without even glancing at it, accepting it as part of their ordinary landscape, but Mikleo stops and looks up at the face. It’s been more than five-hundred years since it was built. Everything distinctive has been eroded away, leaving a generic man holding a generic sword aloft.

Back five hundred years ago or so, it had been a good likeness. Edna herself has helped to shape it, though she had complained the entire time. The statue had been like Sorey himself made to stone, complete with everything from his feathered earrings to his dull, ritual sword.

But now it’s just a hunk of rock that represents someone whose actual face was long ago lost to legend.

There have been books written about Sorey, about his journeys and what he did for the world. Mikleo wrote a couple of them himself. There are museums about him, temples to worship him, children named in his honor. Hell, a hundred years ago someone composed an entire opera about him. 

Among the humans, the Shepherd Sorey who ended the Age of Chaos is a pseudo-deity.

Mikleo honestly thinks that it’s kind of hilarious.

The more overblown the Sorey of legend becomes, the more fondly Mikleo remembers the actual Sorey. The Sorey who was a total ruin geek, who tended to shoulder burdens too heavy for himself, who would get so into his studies that he wouldn’t eat until someone made him, who learned to use a sword by fighting prickleboars, who was and still is Mikleo’s best friend.

Once that Sorey wakes up, Mikleo is going to take him to all of the temple and museums and read all of the books with him. Maybe they can even go to the terrible opera. Mikleo is pretty excited to see his reaction to all of it, honestly.

He leaves the statue, wondering if it will still be there the next time he comes to visit. He wonders if it will be there when Sorey wakes. 

From there, the walk back to Elysia is familiar. What was once empty hillside is now rows of houses, but the Arondite forest is still mostly unchanged. Different trees, yes, but the same earth under his feet as it was when he left home for the very first time.

He finally reaches the clean, clear air of Elysia and he breathes deep.

He’s home.

Kyme, the leader after Gramp’s death, sense him and comes to the gate to greet him. The rest of the Elysians notice the commotion and rush over, all eager to hug him and talk to him and tug on his hair. He doesn’t get why they always do that...he’s had long hair for like two centuries now.

“It’s been too long, Mikleo!” Someone says, patting him hard on the back.

“Oh, did you bring those tiny cakes again? I just love them!” Hands are rifling through his bag.

“Oh, your hair…” Someone yanks on it, “It’s always so lovely, Mikleo!”

“Tell us, where have you been?”

“But seriously...I’m not seeing any cakes, Mikleo.”

“You’ve been working hard, I’m sure!”

Mikelo is feeling distinctly heckled. But, like, with love.

“Okay, okay!” Kyme, apparently sensing Mikleo's distress, claps his hands. “Let’s give him some space...and I’m sure he’s got some of those tiny cakes hidden away somewhere.”

When the crowd clears a bit, Kyme leans and asks in a low voice, “But seriously...do you have some of those cakes? We might have a riot on our hands if you forgot.”

Mikleo laughs and hands Kyme the bag of sweets. “Don’t worry, there should be plenty for everyone.”

“I suppose I’ll get to stay in charge a while longer.” Kyme takes the sweets.

“I suppose so.” Mikleo follows him as he starts to walk through the village. Sorey has been gone for a long, long time, but they still live in houses like humans do. The houses have gotten bigger, fancier, since Mikleo was last here.

He feels mildly guilty...it has been a while since he was home…

“I’m sorry that I was away so long.” He says, rubbing his chin. “I’ve been researching a legend about one of the shepherds from the time before the Age of Chaos and it’s taken me all over the continent and…”

“Mikleo.” Kyme has stopped and is looking back at him with a fond smile. “It’s fine.”

Kyme is shorter than him now and had been for about a hundred years, but it still feels weird. “Still.” He says, “I should make an effort to come home more often.”

“You always have a place here, Mikleo.” Kyme says, starting to walk again. “No matter how far away you might go.”

They walk to the cliffs together and Mikleo smiles a little sadly when thinks about Sorey.

_I’ve got something I should tell you…_

He hasn’t forgotten. He probably should have by now.

Like he’s reading this thoughts, Kyme asks, “Any news of Sorey?”

“I checked just a few months ago.” Mikleo says. “He’s still sleeping.”

“Hmmm.” Kyme selects a tiny cake from the bag of sweets and pops it into his mouth. “Ahh...as delicious as ever.”

“Well,” Mikleo folds his arms, “If you ever get sick of waiting for me to bring you things...Ladylake is just a day or so away.”

“We will...think about it.” Kyme says, but Mikleo knows from experience that the Elysians will stay in Elysia. It’s not good or bad, it just is. Some things don’t change easily.

He spends the afternoon with Kyme and the other Elysians, handing out sweets and telling stories about his latest adventures. Every seraph asks after Sorey, without exception. It’s been a long, long time since Sorey went to sleep, but Elysians never forget one of their own.

It makes Mikleo feel warm to know he’s not the only one waiting.

He leaves just before dark. They try to convince him to stay a night, but the stars above are bright enough to light his way and he’s eager to get going. The ruins are calling him, after all.

“You can always come home.” Kyme says as they stand under the stars and Mikleo turns to go. “Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.” Mikleo looks over his shoulder and smiles at him. “I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Kyme and the others wave as he crosses over the threshold and leaves Elysia behind. He can feel their eyes on him, their worry. They’re his family. He doesn’t begrudge them their worries or their wishes that he would stay.

A hundred years ago or so, Kyme asked Mikleo to take over at the protector of Elysia. He knows that he’s strong. It’s not surprising. He’s been fighting hellions for most of his life...he’s had to get strong.

But he said no.

Maybe someday he’ll come back to Elysia and protect it just like Gramps did, but right now he’s got an entire world to see and, besides, Elysia is their home, his and Sorey’s. Going home for good while Sorey is still asleep would feel weird and wrong.

He visits Sorey every few years too, spending a few days making sure the cavern that he, Edna, Zaveid and Lailah built is still safe and secure. He knows the others go too. He’s found flowers from Edna, seen the way the torches burn more brightly after Lailah has been, smelt the clean air after a visit from Zaveid.

They’re all protecting Sorey in tiny ways, doing the very best they can, and hoping that the day he wakes is coming.

Mikleo’s been waiting, just like he promised, but he’s still been living, having adventures and exploring and doing good in the world. He’s pretty that Sorey would kick his ass if he woke to find that Mikleo had just been moping for five centuries.

There are days that he mopes. There are days that they all mope.

But that’s how it is when you’re a seraph. You lose people. And you miss them...but you have to keep living. You have to keep moving.

Mikleo has become a bit of an expert on that part. He’s crossed the world more times than he can count, retraced the steps of his journeys with Sorey and has gone even further.

And he’s become a bit of an expert on losing people too.

He buried Rose. He buried Alisha.

Hundreds of years have passed since then, but he could swear he still recalls the exact color of Alisha’s eyes, the exact timbre of Rose’s voice. He probably doesn’t, but it feels like he could.

The time that he’s spent without Sorey feels at the same time very, very long and like no time at all. Time is weird like that. He wonders if it’s the same for all seraphs.

He shakes his head, dispels his thoughts.

He’s got a long journey ahead of him and above him the stars are bright.

It’s time for a new adventure.

 

* * *

 

Zaveid knows the minute that Sorey wakes.

The air feels...different now that Maotelous is awake and back in his vessel. He’s not sure if it’s good different or bad different yet. Just...different. And, if that wasn’t enough, he feels the winds that he's kept lingering in Sorey’s resting place all this time rush to him and pull at his senses.

_Come on_ , they’re saying, _the shepherd is awake again._

Zaveid would very much like to follow their advice. He’s lost so many comrades during his life. Getting one back...that would be a trip. And, if he’s honest with himself, Sorey was a lot more than a comrade. He was a friend, a real and true one, and Zaveid hasn’t had too many of those.

But there’s a problem.

He and Edna are on the other side of the continent from where Sorey is. It’ll take them a few weeks to get back even at their fastest.

Well, no time like the present.

They’ve been relaxing in a tiny town known for its hot springs for the past few weeks. Zaveid is there for obvious reasons. Edna is there because she wanted to wander, but didn’t want to wander alone.

They’re not exactly the most... _harmonious_ of travel companions, but they make it work. Edna, like Sorey, is a friend. A good person to wander the world with.

He finds her sitting at the bar, drinking from a flagon as big as her head and garnering worried looks from the humans in the room. Ah, things have been so fun since more humans started to be born with the ability to see seraphim.

“Come on, little lady.” He says, leaning at the bar beside Edna. “If you’re done freaking out the locals, we’ve got somewhere we need to be.”

“Oh?” She says, disinterested. But because Zaveid knows Edna, he knows that her disinterest is just a smokescreen for being very interested.

“I think,” He says, “That we should head back towards Camlann.”

“Do you?” Edna says, her eyes gleaming. She knows the words he’s not saying. She knows Sorey is awake.

“I think it’ll be worth the trip.” Zaveid grins.

“If it isn’t, I’m going to put this umbrella through your eye.” She says, but puts some money on the bar and hops off of her stool.

“Hey! Don’t threaten me, woman!” He backs away, raising his arms. “Besides, it’s been too long since we’ve seen Mick-boy and the lovely Lailah.”

“Ugh.” Edna folds her arms. “Then let’s just go already.”

Zaveid grins. “That’s the spirit, sweetheart.”

Edna jabs him with her umbrella.

“Hey!”

 

* * *

 

Sorey keeps getting lost on his way to Ladylake.

Well, it’s less like getting lost and more like seeing something cool, going to check out that something cool and, when he looks up again, realizing he’s miles away from where he began. So far, he’s found three old shrines, a cave that had some awesome carvings and one seriously cool underground ruin with a bunch of twisty passages.

He also ended up spending a couple of days riding with a caravan of merchants who were actually traveling the opposite direction that he needed to go. But, even if only two of them could properly see him, they were interesting and lively and fun. For whatever reason, they made him feel a bit sad, a little bit lonely. Maybe he knew a merchant? Maybe he _was_ a merchant?

But, when all is said and done, he ends up farther from Ladylake than he was when he started.

He feels kind of guilty. He hopes that whoever is waiting for him is the understanding type.

But! It hasn’t all been in vain...he’s started to remember some things about himself. Not big important things like he hoped, but little, seemingly insignificant things. He likes soft-serve ice cream, particularly the vanilla flavored kind, but he is absolutely hopeless at making it. He’s got a taste for boar meat that surprises him and he can cook it pretty competently. His handwriting is messy, but he can memorize things quickly. He knows a truly bizarre number of historical facts, but he’s still unable to remember his own history.

He’s relearning his preferences, his likes and dislikes, his skills and strengths and weakness. He’s gotten to know Sorey-that-is-now. But there’s nothing from Sorey-that-was. No memories, no names, nothing but dreams he can’t recall and memories he can almost grasp.

It’s frustrating, but there’s not much he can actually do about it.

He continues on, trying to keep his steps steady and in the right direction. No more ruins, no more cool looking rocks, no more chatting with people on the road. He’s going to Ladylake and then he’s going to find the Green Knight ruins, he’s going…

Wait...are those seraphs on the road ahead of him?

There’s two of them, a short one with yellow hair and a tall one with white hair tipped in green. Sorey’s remembered a bit about Seraphs since waking...green means wind and yellow..means earth? He thinks? But that’s not always true either, he doesn’t think and…

He should probably just go ask them.

“Uh...hello?” He calls, feeling vaguely self-conscious. He hasn’t seen any other seraphs since waking and he’s pretty sure he’s still awful at this being-a-seraph business. He still doesn’t know what type he is…

The two turn and, as one, their eyes go wide.

And wait…

Wait…

He _knows_ them.

“Sorey!” The wind seraph grins wide at him and takes a few running steps towards him. “Is that really you, buddy? Damn, we’ve been wandering all over this place trying to find you!”

Sorey just stares at him for a long moment. He knows this seraph, he _does_ …he looks the seraph in the eyes and he thinks, _friendship, camaraderie, ferocity, humor, respect_.

“Why are you wearing a shirt?” Are his numb first words to the seraph that he knows. He doesn’t even know why, they just feel like the right thing to say.

For a moment, the wind seraph just stares and then, he laughs like Sorey just told the best joke he’s ever heard and pulls him into a hug. Sorey hugs him back, hard.

He feels like he’s going to cry.

“So you’re a seraph now, huh?” The earth seraph is staring at him when the hug ends. He looks at her and he knows her too.. _.loss, regret, strength, care, cleverness_.

“I’m sorry.” Again, he doesn’t know why he says it. It’s just the right thing to say.

“It isn’t your fault.” She says and her hard face softens just a bit. “Some things can’t change.”

“I…” He swallows, shakes his head.

“Sorey.” The wind seraph pats his shoulder, “I still can’t believe it’s really you. And a fire seraph to boot! Mik-boy is gonna have a field day.”

“Fire?” Sorey flexes his hands. “I am?”

“Oh no.” The earth seraph says flatly. “I’d forgotten how much of a simpleton he is.”

“C’mon Edna, he’s new at this!” The wind seraph throws an arm over his shoulders and pulls him in for another sort-of hug. “Cut him some slack.”

The earth seraph, Edna apparently, pokes his cheek with an umbrella.

“Hey!” Sorey rubs his cheek. “That hurt!”

“Look at his face, Zaveid.” She says. “He’s become even more of a simpleton while he slept.”

“Was I…” Sorey tilts his head to the side. “Was I a simpleton?”

He doesn’t think he was, but he has no real way of knowing that.

“What do you mean?” Zaveid’s smile looks fixed all of the sudden.

“I don’t…” Sorey looks at Edna’s boots instead of her face, wait...they’re her brothers boots, aren’t they? Why does he know that, but not how he knows her? “Remember very much.”

“You know us, though?” Zaveid asks, rubbing his jaw.

“I know that I know you.” Sorey says, annoyed with how little sense that makes. “I know that you’re both important...I can’t why or how though.”

“It’s not surprising.” Edna says and her face is so hard again. “Most humans lose their memories when they become seraphs.”

“Well, that’s a shame.” Zaveid is frowning. “You don’t remember what you did?”

“When I woke up...Maotelous mentioned something about me being the shepherd.”

“Ah, that’s a bit of a long story.” Zaveid says. “Let’s take a break and talk about it, yeah?”

Sorey agrees and they wander off the path a ways a find a clearing that Edna makes bigger with her seraph powers. He was right...she is an earth seraph.

They make camp together and all the while Zaveid quizzes Sorey on what he knows and what he doesn’t as Edna pretends she isn’t listening.

As it turns out, Zaveid and Edna accompanied him on some super-important journey back when Sorey was alive and human. They don’t tell him much despite his prodding, just that he slept to fix the world and now, apparently, it’s fixed enough for him to wake up again.

Soon, though, the conversation turns to his new identity as a seraph.

“So can you conjure flames?” Zaveid asks curiously. “We could use a fire.”

“Erm,” Sorey flexes his hands, “I didn’t know I was even a fire seraph til I met you both, so I haven’t really tried.” He looks at them both. “So, how do I do it?”

“You just feel it.” Edna says. “The same way you feel a leg or an arm.” Sorey tries, but nothing happens. “I knew it.” She sighs, “You did some back stupider.”

“Hey!” Sorey says with some feeling.

“Just relax,” Zaveid advises, “You’re still thinkin’ of yourself as a human...that’s your first mistake.”

“What do you mean? I don’t even remember being a human.”

“You’re focused on the physical stuff, is what I mean.” Zaveid’s eyes glitter and Sorey gets a sense of seriousness, of intelligence, that he nearly overlooked before. “Seraphim operate on belief...a lot of what you can do is about whether or not you believe you can do it.”

Sorey perks up. “Do you think my memories might be like that? If I focus and believe in them, d’you think they might come back?”

“Stranger things have happened.” Zaveid says with a shrug. “But first let’s focus on making a flame.” Sorey nods. “Okay, hold out you hand.”

“Like this?” Sorey holds out a hand.

“Yep.” Zaveid nods. “And now you gotta believe you can make a flame there, believe you can will it into being, and it’ll happen.”

Sorey’s fingers twitch and he does what Zaveid advised, trying his best to ignore Zaveid and Edna watching him. His hand almost feels...hot. Maybe, just maybe…

One moment, his hand is empty. And the next in his hand there is a tiny flame that’s pulsing like a tiny heartbeat.

“Oh!” He says.

“There you go.” Zaveid says with a grin.

“Maybe you’re not completely stupid.” Edna concedes

Sorey keeps the little flame burning until his concentration breaks

“That is seriously cool.” He beams up at the both of them. “D’you think I could make it bigger?”

“Woah there, pal.” Zaveid says, but he’s still grinning. “Take it one step at a time. No need for a forest fire.”

“I knew it.” Edna says. “He’s a pyromaniac.”

“I am not.” Sorey says, but he stops trying to conjure more fire. “That is just...too cool.”

They spend the rest of the night chatting aimlessly, nothing about the past or at least about Sorey’s past. Sorey learns that Edna and Zaveid have been wandering the world together for the past couple decades. They tell him about places they’ve been, people they’ve met, adventures they’ve had.

Sorey laughs a lot and he feels warm in a way that has nothing to do with the tiny fire he’s learned to create in his hands.

When the sun starts to peek over the horizon, Zaveid stands and stretches. “Man, it’s been good to catch up.” He grins at Sorey. “You’ve been missed, my friend.”

“I...yeah.” Sorey smiles kind of awkwardly. He’s sure that he would have missed Zaveid too if he would have been awake or if he would have remembered him.

“I’m pleased to see you’re still the same idiot you always were.” Edna pokes him with her umbrella gently enough that it could be taken as fond.

He laughs. “Thanks, Edna.”

“Any time.”

“So,” Zaveid looks at Sorey consideringly, “Any plans now, Sorey?”

“Well, Maotelous told me that there was someone waiting for me at the Green Knight ruins.” Sorey says, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I don’t know where that is.”

“Green Knight ruins, huh?” Zaveid says. “That’s where….right.” He nods to himself. “I get it.”

“What? What do you get?”

Zaveid shakes his head. “Let’s just say that I think your decision to go to those particular ruins is a good one.”

“You know where they are?” Sorey says, excited.

“Not a clue, actually.” Zaveid says with a shrug and Sorey visibly wilts. Zaveid chuckles. “But I can probably point you in the right direction.”

“Are you going to come with me, then?” He asks. “Edna as well, of course.”

Edna and Zaveid exchange a long glance full of meaning Sorey can’t read. Eventually, Zaveid turns to him with a rueful grin. “Not this time, Sorey. This is something a man’s gotta do on his own, you understand?”

“Uh, not really?”

“Us being there will spoil it.” Edna says flatly. “So go by yourself.”

“But, it’s been so long since I’ve seen the both of you,” Sorey frowns, “And I still don’t properly remember where I know you from and…”

“You're a seraph now.” Zaveid interrupts with an easy smile. “We got time.”

“But, I…” Sorey says.

“Even if you never get your old memories back, we’ll make new ones.” Edna says and there’s something breakable in her flat voice.

“Yeah.” Sorey agrees, as carefully as he can. “We will.”

“Then that’s all there is to it.” She turns away, flicking her umbrella open. “Go now. He won’t be at those ruins forever, no matter how much he loves them.”

“The person I’m meeting...he likes ruins?” Sorey latches on eagerly to the scrap of information.

“You can ask him when you meet him. He’s there waiting for you.”

“Who is he though?” Sorey says and something inside him feels empty all of the sudden, like finding these two pieces that have been missing has finally revealed how many more pieces inside of him are gone.

Zaveid opens his mouth, but Edna flips her umbrella to rest against his lips. “Nope.” She says. “Don’t spoil their big reunion.”

“C’mon, Edna!” Zaveid swats the umbrella away. “How is the kid gonna find him if he doesn’t even know his name?”

“Fate or destiny or some crap.” She says with a shrug.

“Edna!”

“Oh, just send one of your winds with him. They already know where he is, right? I know you keep tabs on all of us.”

“I…” Zaveid scratches his chin. “I guess you’re right. That’s a good idea, Edna.”

“I am as wise as I am beautiful.”

“Sure, okay.”

“Um?” Sorey interrupts before they can start snipping at each other again. “What exactly is happening?”

Zaveid twists his wrist and a warm wind suddenly blows at Sorey’s back. “Let that guide you. It’ll take you where you need to be.”

"You're sure?" 

Zaveid grins crookedly. "I'm sure." 

Sorey can’t help it. He rushes forward and wraps both of them in a massive hug.

“Woah now.” Zaveid pats him on the back. “Easy there, Sorey.”

“Release me.” Edna says from somewhere by his elbow.

“Sorry!” He drops his arms. “I just...I know that I missed you both, even though I don’t really remember much else.”

Zaveid laughs and claps him on the shoulder. “We missed you too, buddy.”

“I suppose I could stand to have you around again.” Edna says, opening her umbrella and turning away.

Sorey grins. “How can I find you both again? After the Green Knight Ruins, I mean.”

“We’re gonna head back to Tintagel.” Zaveid says, hitching a thumb over his shoulder. “Catch up with Lailah.” That name makes something in Sorey burn. He knows her too. “You and Mi...ah, the person that you’re meeting. You two can meet us there.”

“Don’t keep us waiting long.” Edna adds.

Sorey waves and watches them go and his heart aches.

It’s fine. He’ll see them again.

He turns to face the dawn, Zaveid’s wind urging him onwards.

He’s got someone else he’s kept waiting far too long.

 

* * *

 

The Green Knight ruins are at the center of a legend Mikleo has been researching on and off for the past fifty years or so.

It started in ruins outside of Pendrago where a scholar discovered an account from a shepherd far older than any other shepherd legend ever found. It’s thousands of years, old enough that even a seraph would pause and take notice.

Mikleo has looked for myths about the first ever shepherd, but has never found anything concrete. But the Green Knight seems to be an early shepherd. Not the first, but one from the first shepherd’s era. Mikleo has hopes that following the Green Knight legend will lead him to a clue about the origins of the role of shepherd.

He’s been looking for the ruins of the Green Knight’s temple and his tomb for the past thirty years and it seems that now he has finally, finally found it.

He stands in front of it and takes it in. From the outside it really...isn’t much. Just some rocks and a crumbling doorway covered in long hanging strands of ivy. But Mikleo knows better than most that some of the most wonderful things hide behind unimpressive doors.

He pushes the ivy aside and smells wet stone and the faint hint of mold. It’s not a good smell by any stretch of the imagination, but it fills him with excitement. That’s the smell of ruins that are unplundered. The smell of something to discover.

The antechamber he steps into is crumbling and colored green with emeralds and paint that is almost entirely gone.

“Green…” He mumbles. Was a wind seraph the prime lord? Is that why all the iconography is green? Is that why he was called the Green Knight in the first place? He takes out his journal, jots a few notes.

He makes his way further in, avoiding traps and solving puzzles. He’s biting back smiles whenever he comes to a new room, makes a new discovery. He loves this, seeking and then finding, following his curiosity wherever it leads.

He comes to a flight of crumbling stairs, covered with a lattice of vines, that lead out into the sunlight and then into a second floor. He takes a minute to enjoy the sun and the view of the forest around him before heading the second floor.

There are bas-reliefs on the walls, studded with more gems...there are more colors now, not just green. Reds...and yellows...hm. Could they be to represent the seraphim he fought alongside? He stops and takes more notes. He’ll come back later and examine the carvings more closely, but for now he wants to press on.

Mikleo keeps going, holding his staff in case something or someone decides to attack. It’s happened before, anything from hellions to looters to, on one very memorable occasion, a housewife who thought he was trying to rob her.

He still has the scar from where she tried to brain him with a rolling pin.

The next room makes him pause. It’s not green in the slightest. There’s fire...lava, even.

Why is there something like that here? Could these be precursors of the shepherd’s trials? He looks around for a guardian seraph, tries to feel for it, but he’s the only one casting any sort of domain. Then could they perhaps be in memorial of the fire seraph who fought beside the Green Knight?

No, this is too much speculation. He needs to see the rest of the ruin before he starts trying to make conclusions about its purpose.

There’s a massive statue against one wall of a woman standing amidst the lava. Her face is too high up too see properly and too weathered by time to make out from the ground. He’ll have to rappel up there later and get a closer look. But, for now, his conclusion that this is a place in memorial or a sanctuary to a fire seraph seems promising.

Mikleo leaves the fire section of the ruin behind without too much examination. He’s starting to sweat.

The next part he comes to is beautiful, and thankfully cooler, cast in blue light from faintly glowing crystals.

“Hmmm.” He looks around at the ocean iconography and the water. A place for the water seraph, perhaps? He certainly feels at peace here. And...wait is that an altar? He steps up to it, reaching curiously for the blue stone in the center.

But then he feels a faint tremor beneath his feet.

Oh crap. He didn’t check for traps.

He doesn’t have time to do anything before the ground crumbles away from beneath him and he falls.

 

* * *

 

The road to Tintagel is familiar by now. Zaveid doesn’t really need to think to let his feet guide him there. He was a sublord for a hundred-odd years and, after that, he still did his best to support the current shepherd.

Beside him, Edna is walking silently. Zaveid eyes her curiously.

“So why did you just let him go off by himself?” He asks. “We coulda tagged along.”

Edna shrugs. “Did you really want to deal with him and Meebo crying all over each other?”

“I wanted to see their big reunion!” Zaveid says, hooking his thumbs through the beltloops of his pants. “How long do you think it takes for Mik-boy to confess his eternal and undying love? Five minutes? Four?”

“I don’t actually think he realizes how he feels about Sorey.”

“It’s been five hundred years!” He protests. “Five hundred years of lonely, celibate solitude!”

“It’s Meebo.” Edna says flatly. “He’s an idiot. And he’s always been more interested in stupid ruins than in people.”

“That’s...fair.”

They walk in silence for a while.

“So,” Zaveid says, “You think it’ll take more or less than a century for them to figure it out?”

“Sorey has five-hundred years worth of history to geek out over.” Edna says. “So at least that long. Maybe more.”

“Nah.” Zaveid shakes his head. “I think it’ll be soon...our little shepherd is a seraph now. I think even Mikleo will get what that means for them.”

“Together forever?”

“Lucky bastards.” He grins.

Edna doesn’t quite smile back, but she doesn’t frown either.

“I suppose.”

 

* * *

 

Sorey spend his time on the road lighting things on fire.

But not, like, in a pyromaniac way.

He just wants to test his powers, to learn to control them. So he picks up leaves and blades of grass and twigs and he concentrates until they burst into flames.

It hasn’t stopped being awesome.

He’s pretty sure he’s had the power to make things catch fire before...something about it, the hiss and then the way the flame blooms into existence, makes him nostalgic. He wishes that Zaveid and Edna were still with him to ask, but they moved on towards Tintagel.

Sorey is by himself aside from the wind of Zaveid’s that stays at his back and keeps him going in the right direction. He spends days like that, walking alone.

He passes a small group of people, but none of them seem to be able to see him, so he keeps going without stopping. Once, a seraph dressed like a turtle waves at him and offers to sell him a map, but he doesn’t have any money for it.

Other than that, the journey to the Green Knight ruins is a lonely trek across fields and down stony paths. He sees towns in the distance, cities, but he passes them by. He sees ruins and caves and, yeah, he usually stops in those for a little bit, but never longer than a few hours.

He starts making notes in the old journal Lazlo gave him.

He learns more about himself. He knows the ancient language that’s scrawled across the walls of the temples and the sides of the monoliths he passes. He can draw passably, usually doodles of roses and stars and dragons in the margins of his notes, and is pretty good at making maps.

“But who am I going to find?” He murmurs to himself, shutting the journal and getting to his feet. He was resting, a brief break from endless walking, but now he’s ready to head out again. “And who am I still missing?”

He finally reaches what he assumes are the Green Knight ruins after days and days of walking. Zaveid’s winds are certainly eager to get him into this particular set of ruins, at least.

“These are them, huh?” He says curiously, moving a curtain of greenery aside. Well, the outside certainly lives up to the name. Everything is very green.

“Hello?” He calls, peering into the first room. No one is there...just beautiful ruins in shades of green. He wants so badly to poke around a little bit, to record some stuff, but...no. He’s got a person to find.

He passes through other rooms that he would dearly love to spend some time examining, but the wind at his back is insistently pushing him onwards, further into the ruins. He sees fire and scratched gems that still sparkles, but he doesn’t stop.

He turns into a room all lit up blue and his first thought is oh, wow. It’s beautiful.

But then his eyes catch on another person in the center of it, reaching for an altar with a blue stone. He doesn’t see much of the person other than a cloud of white hair before they drop.

Sorey doesn’t think. He just does, letting Zaveid’s wind rush him forward to the hole faster than he would have been able to alone. He feels it dissipate as he reaches out and catches the person who fell by the hand.

He looks down and sees wide purple eyes and he thinks, _oh_.

_Friendship, ambition, loyalty, intelligence, courage, love, love, love_.

For a moment, they just stare at each other. Sorey’s mouth feels weird and dry and his heart is trying its best to beat all the way out of his chest.

“You owe me one this time.” He says and, just like with Zaveid and Edna, he doesn’t know why he says it. He just knows it’s the right thing to say.

The man lets out a rather choked laugh and Sorey feels like something that has been knocked loose in him since he woke up has suddenly slid back into place. “I guess that I do.”

Sorey pulls the man up, lets himself focus on that and not on how very excited he feels right now, how he feels some much more himself than he did before, if that even makes sense.

Once they’re both on solid ground again, Sorey slumps back a little, gasping. The man is a few inches taller than him and probably a little heavier. Something inside of him says that no, that’s wrong, but the evidence is in front of him in the form of a man with a long white ponytail who is staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and hope.

“Sorey…” His breathes and again his voice makes something in Sorey feel like he’s being put back together. “Is it...is it really you?”

He smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry I kept you waiting so long.”

“You’re such an idiot.” Says the man in a thick voice before grabbing him tightly by the waist and not letting him go. It takes Sorey a moment to realize that he’s crying. He cries, still holding Sorey tight, and something inside of Sorey clicks into place.

“Mikleo.” He says out loud and the word on his tongue tastes like vanilla ice cream and sounds like a promise. “You’re Mikleo.”

He doesn’t remember the specifics right now, but he knows that he loves Mikleo more than anyone, that Mikleo is the most important person to him.

Tears prick in his eyes as well. “I really am sorry.” He pats Mikleo’s head. “For making you wait so long.”

“Shut up idiot.” Mikleo mumbles, finally leaning away and wiping his nose. He’s very, very pretty even with a running nose and red-rimmed eyes. “Don’t be sorry for that.”

“I remember. You...said you’d wait for me, didn’t you.”

“I did wait.”

“I hope that’s not all you did.” Sorey tries to sound stern, but he can’t keep the smile out of his voice. “People have been telling me that I was asleep for a pretty long time.”

“Of course I didn’t just wait.” Mikleo says, flicking the hair out of his face. His eyes are still distinctly watery. “What do you take me for?”

“An idiot actually.” Sorey says with a grin. “Who goes up and pokes an altar without checking for traps first?”

“Well, I…shut up.” Mikleo looks extremely flustered and Sorey is absolutely delighted. Mikleo, so far in their five minute reunion, has managed to cry all over him and become so flustered that he now looks like he kind of wants to jump down the hole Sorey saved him from.

“Wow.” Sorey can’t stop grinning. His face actually hurts from it. “And I actually thought you looked cool for a minute there.”

“You thought I looked cool?”

“It’s too late you ruined it by falling into a hole and crying on me.”

“You’re an idiot.” Mikleo says, but he’s grinning just like Sorey is.

“Yeah, yeah.” Sorey leans his forehead against Mikleo’s shoulder. “You know you missed me.”

He feels careful fingers reach up the touch the back of his neck, his hair. “Sorey...I really did.”

 

* * *

 

“Sorey is awake and no one told me?” Lailah feels entirely justified in hitting Zaveid upside the head with her cards. “How,” She hits him again, “Could,” Once more, “You!”

“Jeeze, Lailah!” Zaveid raises a hand to catch the cards. “Stop!”

“We are telling you.” Edna says, umbrella raised like she’s prepared to protect herself from potential card-attacks. “Right this moment. That’s what we’re doing.”

“Still!” Lailah says, lowering her cards. “I should have known when it happened. I’m his prime lord!”

“Was.” Zaveid corrects, leaning up against the wall in what Lailah is sure is a deliberate attempt to look cool. “Kid’s a seraph.”

“Oh.” She lowers her cards. “Oh wow.” She smiles. “I’m so relieved.”

“Why’s that?” Edna asks, hopping onto an overturned crate. They’re in Tintagel and, like always, the place is a bit of a mess. Shepherds and their various companions are rarely clean people and Lailah herself has to admit that she’s let things get a bit...untidy around here lately.

It’s not busy anymore, with the lack of hellions, so there’s not really a need to clean up after the young seraphs and younger humans who troop on through on occasion. Dust and cobwebs have started to gather in the corners. People are so rarely needed here anymore…

Lailah shakes her head and focuses on Edna’s question. “Well, why wouldn’t I be? Sorey is a seraph! He can stay with us forever now! And,” She smiles even wider. “Mikleo can stop wandering around alone!”

“Psh, yeah.” Edna snorts. “Him traveling the world and pretending he wasn’t missing Sorey was getting kind of old.”

“Hey, now.” Zaveid says easily. “Don’t hate on Mik-boy. I think he’s been doing a good job these past few centuries.”

“He didn’t turn into a dragon, at least.” Edna admits with a shrugs and Lailah sighs. She doubts that Edna will ever truly be over what happened to Eizen.

But no good will come of dwelling on that now!

“So!” She says, “Should we leave now? If we hurry, we could be meet them halfway and…”

“Nah.” Zaveid interrupts.

“What, why?” She protests.

“Give them a little space. They’ve been apart for more than five hundred years after all.”

Lailah frowns and goes to lean on the wall beside him. “We’ve been apart from him for that long too.”

“But, unlike Meebo, we don’t wanna smooch him.” Says Edna.

“Edna!” Lailah gasps.

Edna crosses her legs and hoists her umbrella over her shoulder. “I mean, _I_ don’t at least. And I’m pretty sure that Zaveid doesn’t.”

“Alas, I am tragically heterosexual.”

“There you go.” Edna says with a shrug. “So, is that it, Lailah? Do you harbor a burning lust for our dear Shepherd?”

Lailah huffs. She’s close to throwing some cards at Edna’s head. “You know that isn’t what I meant! He was our friend...we miss him.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to deal with him and Meebo getting their feelings everywhere.” She says. “Give them a little time to work it out...they’ll be back at Tintagel soon enough.”

Lailah sighs. It’s true that she’d rather Sorey and Mikleo come to the same conclusion that everyone else has about their respective feelings sooner rather than later. But she has felt guilty about what happened to Sorey, her Shepherd, her responsibility, for the past five hundred years. She needs to see him, needs to confirm he’s okay as soon as she can.

“Hey.” Zaveid says, probably reading her expression. “The kid’s fine. You’ll see that soon enough, but he’s the same old Sorey as always.”

She looks down at her cards, trying to find some meaning in them, and hides a smile.

“Thank you, Zaveid.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay...okay...the Galahad ruins.”

“Was that, like...a pool or something?”

“It was a waterfall so,” Mikleo shrugs, “Close enough.”

“You’re a water seraph!” Sorey knocks him with a shoulder. “Shouldn’t you care more about the difference?”

Mikleo rolls his eyes, still getting used to the feel of Sorey’s shoulder hitting a few inches below him. “Are you going to start getting uppity about torches versus campfires, fire seraph?”

“I just might.” Sorey tries to keep his face serious, but he breaks into giggles with a few seconds. Mikleo can’t help it. He giggles too.

They’re on the road to Tintagel, walking closer than what’s probably normal and trying to figured out what Sorey does and doesn’t remember. It’s a bit...distressing, so Mikleo is doing his best to stick to the safe things like ruins and history instead of the harder things like the people who are here and gone.

It’s so strange to have Sorey walking beside him again. It’s been so long, but it’s still so incredibly familiar. They fall into step like no time has passed at all, like Mikleo never spent five hundred years without him. Sorey keeps sneaking entirely unsubtle glances at him and smiling like he can’t believe his luck.

Mikleo understands the feeling.

“So the place we’re headed…” Sorey says, finally hiccuping out of infectious laughter. “It’s called Tintagel, right?”

“Yeah.” Mikleo stares up at the sky, watching as white clouds float past. “The Tintagel ruins. They’ve been the base of operations for the shepherd and their companions since the ending of the Age of Chaos.”

“Age of Chaos…” Sorey repeats. “That’s when I lived, yeah?”

Mikleo nods. “You ended it, but you were asleep so you obviously didn’t see what happened afterwards.”

Sorey is quiet for a minute, his face thoughtful. “Huh.” He says finally, “What _did_ happen afterwards?”

Mikleo doesn’t want to get into this yet. It’s been so nice to walk beside Sorey like this again and pretend that nothing has changed. But, things have changed. It’s been hundreds of years and there’s no way to deny that. That time happened. The world moved and grew...Mikleo did too.

He breathes deep and then lets it go.

“For the most part, there’s been peace.” He says because it’s true. “There has been some unrest here and there, of course. People were scared when others were born who could see seraphim. Most couldn’t back when you lived.”

“Oh.” Sorey frowns. “You and I...and Edna and Zaveid too...how come I knew you all if humans couldn’t see seraphs back then?”

Sorey had told him about meeting Edna and Zaveid on the road and Mikleo is still shocked that they just let Sorey wander off like they did. Sorey was their friend and their Shepherd...Mikleo knows they missed him.

But, those are questions for later.

“You were raised in an all-seraph village.” Mikleo explains. “It gave you the ability to see seraphim and, later, it allowed you to be the Shepherd.”

“The Shepherd…” He repeats. “People have mentioned that a couple times now...what does that mean? What does a Shepherd do?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.” Mikleo says. “I think we should wait until we meet up with Edna and Zaveid and Lailah before we get into it.”

Sorey frowns a little, but doesn’t argue. “If you’re sure.” He rubs a hand through his hair and his face grows frustrated. “I’m sorry I don’t remember more of this on my own.”

“No! No...it’s fine.” Mikleo says, “Honestly, I’m surprised you remember this much...most seraphs who come back from being humans hardly remember anything at all.”

“Hmmm, well,” Sorey looks at him with a crooked smile, “It’s mostly since I met you again that I’ve remembered.”

“T-that’s…” Mikelo puts a hand over his mouth, trying to cover up the blush he’s sure is spreading over his cheeks. He is a _grown man_ , why does he still let himself get so embarrassed? “I w-would guess that’s because we spent so much time before you slept.”

“Did we?” Sorey wrinkles his nose. “Ugh, this is so annoying. I feel like I should know all of this already, but…”

“Sorey.” Mikleo puts a hand on his shoulder. “You shouldn’t worry about your memories so much. You’re still you...we can always make new memories now that you’re awake again.”

He’s trying to convince himself as much as Sorey. It’s should be enough that Sorey is back here with him. He can help Sorey now, either with regaining his memories or with creating new ones. No more endless waiting. Finally, there is something he can do.

“That’s what Edna said.” Sorey says.

Mikleo raises an eyebrow. “Did she?” Sorey nods. “Hmmm...I still don’t get why they didn’t just come with you.”

“Well, ah,” Sorey rubs the back of his neck and looks sheepish. “Her and Zaveid...they said they didn’t want to ruin our big reunion.”

Oh, okay. Mikleo is going to be the first seraph ever to die of embarrassment. He pulls up his collar a little bit and fights the urge to just hide his face behind it. He is going to kill Edna. He is an adult, one of the strongest seraphim on the entire continent, and she still treats him like a little kid.

It probably doesn’t help that she makes him act like a little kid with all of her incessant teasing. He doesn’t exactly react maturely. And Zaveid never helps, with his little comments and snickers.

Mikleo is still stewing when Sorey speaks again,

“You and me...we were pretty close, weren’t we?”

Mikleo blinks and looks over at him. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I was just saying...we were pretty close back when I was a human, right?” Sorey isn’t looking at him. His eyes, still green but with wavering bits of amber near the center now, are fixed on the ground beneath his boots.

“Oh...yes. We were.” Mikleo says and for whatever reason he feels even more embarrassed now. “Like I said, you lived in a seraph village. It was called Elysia.” He clears his throat. “I’m from there too. We grew up together. You were, um, _are_ my best friend.”

“Right.” Sorey looks over at him with a wide smile. “That explains it, then.”

“Explains what?”

“The way I feel when I look at you, I guess.” Sorey shrugs and Mikleo would really like to explore that topic further, but they’re coming up on a bunch of old ruins, remnants of a shrine to Sorey himself as a matter of fact, and Sorey is jogging in their direction before Mikleo can ask any more questions.

“Sorey, wait there might be traps!”

“I don’t want to hear that from you!”

“Shouldn’t we be headed back towards the others?” Mikleo asks, running after Sorey.

Sorey looks over his shoulder with a wide smile. “C’mon Mikleo! This looks really cool!”

And, well, Mikleo has missed exploring ruins with Sorey _so much_ for the past five hundred years. Exploration is fun, but it’s something else altogether with a capable partner alongside you.

Mikleo can’t help smiling. “All right, Sorey. Lead the way.”

Tintagel can wait a bit longer.

 

* * *

 

After two weeks, Edna is starting to doubt that Sorey and Mikleo are ever going to make their way to the Tintagel ruins.

“I think they got lost.” She says.

“I think they’re busying doing the do.” Zaveid snorts.

“Zaveid!” Lailah pouts and hits him with her tarot cards.

“Woman, quit hitting me with those cards!”

“Quit saying horrible things!”

“It’s not horrible! Be honest...do you really want to deal with _five hundred years_ of sexual tension up in here? And between two kids who are literally more dense than lady Edna?”

“I’m not dense.”

“I meant, like, physically.”

Edna jabs him with her umbrella.

“Quit attacking me!” He waves them off ineffectively. “When I said I wanted women to fight over me, this wasn’t what I meant!”

Edna sighs and settles down on the floor, balancing her umbrella on her knees. Time is weird for seraphim. Sometimes, hundreds of years pass and it feels like nothing. But other times, like right now, every single second seems to drag.

“Psh, is this what it’s like for humans?” She gripes, tapping her hands against her umbrella.

“What was that, Edna.?” Lailah asks curiously.

“This is taking forever.” Edna says, louder this time. “I’m bored.”

“We’re all bored.” Zaveid says, squatting down beside her and poking at a crack the stone floor. Edna absently considers closing the crack and catching his finger in it. It would be mildly amusing, but then he would complain and carry on all afternoon.

Ugh, what did her brother ever seen in this guy?

Oh, Eizen...

She only misses him most days now, instead of all of them. She holds out hope that someday, she’ll only miss him half the time. Anything less than that…

“Edna?” Zaveid is over at her now. “What’s with the death grip on your umbrella?”

“I’m considering where to poke you with it for maximum damage.”

He jumps up and takes two step back from her. A few decades of traveling together have taught him to fear her umbrella pokes.

“You two are ridiculous.” Lailah sighs.

“I know you are, but what am I?” Zaveid says to Lailah with a grin he probably thinks is rakish and attractive instead of the stupid that it actually is.

How did she end up with these idiots again? And why did she stay with them, that’s the real question.

Ah, well. Sometimes even she does stupid things.

“When do you think they’ll get here?” Edna asks, looking up from the cracked floor.

“Soon.” Zaveid says, “I think they’ll be here soon.”

 

* * *

 

“I thought this was like your home base!”

“It is! It is, I just…”

“How are you lost, then?”

“I’m not lost, I’m just turned around is all!”

The more time Sorey spends around Mikleo, the less mysterious and ethereal he seems. It’s a good thing, honestly. For the first few days, he was so in awe that he kept staring at Mikleo’s face like an idiot and forgetting to answer the questions he was asking.

Now, watching him tromp moodily through the forest with mud on his clothes and a couple of sticks and leaves caught in his hair, he seems a lot less intimidating.

If possible, Sorey likes him even more now than he did when they first met. And he still thinks his face is pretty nice, even when it’s all scrunched up in annoyance like it is now.

“So...how much longer are we going to stay turned around for before you admit we might need directions?” Sorey asks.

Mikleo huffs. “I keep telling you, we’re almost to the Tintagel ruins!”

“You’ve been saying that for like three days.” Sorey takes a few quick steps so he’s in front of Mikleo and turns to walk backwards. “I think we need to try and find a town to ask for directions. Or at least stop to take a bath.”

“We’ll be there by tonight.” Mikleo insists. “I’m sure of it.”

“Fine, fine.”

“I mean it!”

“How long has it been since you’ve been to Tintagel, Mikleo?” Sorey asks, partially teasing but also curious.

“Mmm?” Mikleo tilts his head. “Ten years, at least.” He says after a moment of consideration. “Lailah and I usually meet at the town nearby instead of at the ruins themselves.”

Sorey waits for Mikleo to catch up and turns on his heel so they’re walking side-by-side again. “Why’s that?” He asks, still looking at Mikleo sidelong.

“Er,” Mikleo rubs his chin, looking faintly embarrassed. “I’m a bit...well know. Among the younger squires and shepherd candidates.”

Sorey laughs. “You have _fans_.”

Mikleo blushes a little and Sorey can’t look away. Mikleo’s blushes are rapidly becoming one of his favorite things. “They’re just people who know who I am, is all.”

Sorey hums thoughtfully. “Still, even with the _fans_ I would think the ruins would be more interesting than some town.”

“They’re not really ruins anymore.” Mikleo says. “People have lived there for five-hundred years...they’ve built onto them and renovated and the like.”

“Oh.” Sorey folds his arms. “That’s a shame.”

“Yes, well.” Mikleo shrugs. “I didn’t really realize what was happening until it was too late to stop it…” He smiles suddenly, the expression fond. “Rose was always a smooth talker. She loved progress.”

“Rose…” Sorey blinks hard, eyes hot all of the sudden. “Did I...I mean, I knew her. Didn’t I?”

Mikleo looks completely gutted for a moment, but the expression is quickly shuttered. “Yes.” He says in a voice that is level and smooth as ice. “You knew her.”

They walk in silence for a few minutes. The forest seems loud around them all of the sudden, the birdsong blaring and every stick Sorey steps on shattering. Mikleo is looking at the ground and Sorey wants to fix the sudden flat look in his eyes, but he doesn’t know how. When he thinks of Rose, there are faint sensations of warmth and friendship and trust, but that’s it.

He hates not knowing anything.

“Sorry.” He says quietly.

“Please don’t be.” Mikleo looks up. He’s not smiling, but some the blankness is gone from his eyes. “She wouldn’t want you to be. And I…” He looks directly into Sorey’s eyes and his eyes, wow, they’re _beautiful_. He’s never seen colors like the ones in Mikleo’s eyes before. “I don’t want you to be either.”

“Thanks.”

"Yeah.”

They walk in silence for a bit longer.

“Rose…” Sorey starts cautiously. “Is she…”

“She was human.” Mikleo says. “She lived a long, happy life, but then...she died.”

“Will you tell me more about Rose some time? And the other people who I forgot?” Sorey blurts it out in a rush before he can reconsider. It seems like a lot to ask, but...well. He doesn’t know who he could ask besides Mikleo.

Mikleo smiles and it’s bittersweet, but real. “Yeah. Lailah and Edna and Zaveid can help too. We all...we worked with all of the humans who you loved. We stayed with them, even though you couldn’t.”

“Thank you.” Sorey’s throat feels tight and he wants to cry, even though it seems dumb to cry over people he doesn’t remember.

Mikleo shakes his head. “It wasn’t just for you.” He looks over at Sorey. “We loved them too.”

They walk in silence for a while.

_People he loved…_

Sorey’s been thinking about love a lot during the past week or so. It’s difficult, not knowing for sure if he had someone like that back when he was human. Not being able to be sure of his own feelings because he doesn’t have the memories to back them up. It’s hard because, well...he’s pretty sure that he’s in love with Mikleo.

And not, like, just because of the weeks that they spent together traveling from the Green Knight ruins. He doesn’t think he fell in love in the past few days. He’s pretty sure he was already in love with Mikleo. It feels kind of like he’s always been in love with Mikleo. His feelings don’t seem particularly new or even exciting.

They’re just an accepted part of him, like being a ruin geek or liking vanilla ice cream. It’s just, like, a thing about Sorey. His hair is mostly brown, his eyes are mostly green, his name is Sorey and he is in love with Mikleo.

His eyes follow Mikleo without his permission and his heart sudden beats in double time whenever Mikleo touches him or, hell, when he so much as smiles in Sorey’s general direction. During their time together, Sorey has learned that Mikleo is a massive nerd, that he can get a bit moody and that he doesn’t like to be wrong. But none of that feels very much like new information. As much as Sorey knows anything after his long, long sleep, he knows Mikleo.

He doesn’t know what to do with all of that, though.

When he asked before, Mikleo said they were best friends. Is that all they ever were? Did Mikleo love someone else?

He has questions, so many questions, but no idea how he’s supposed to ask them. He doesn’t even know if he can. He doesn’t remember anything.

If he and Mikleo are just friends, even though Sorey has all of these feelings inside of him, there has to be a reason for that.

Sorey just hopes he remembers it soon.

“So when are you gonna admit that we’re lost?” Sorey says after the silence seems a bit lighter.

“We are not lost.” Mikleo sniffs. “In fact, if you look properly, you’ll see that we’ve just arrived.”

“What are you…”

The ruin seems to emerge from the forest in one instant. Like one moment it’s just trees, trees and more trees and all of the sudden there’s a massive building taking up half of the skyline. Sorey wonders curiously if that’s because of some seraphic protection or because he’s just not that observant.

He makes a note to ask Mikleo about it later as he curiously examines the ruin.

Mikleo wasn’t wrong. There’s a mess hall and a smithy and what looks like a dormitory all added onto what Sorey assumes is the original structure. But even with all of that, he just knows it somehow.

“This feels…” Sorey takes a few steps forward, slow and curious. “Familiar.”

“It should.” Mikleo says lightly. “This is Tintagel.” He glances over at Sorey, expression smug. “I told you I’d get us here.”

“I’m sorry for doubting you, Mikleo-sama.”

“You’re still such a little shit.”

Sorey grins at him and, after a minute of pretending to be annoyed, Mikleo shakes his head and smiles.

“C’mon.” He says, jerking his head towards the main part of the ruins. “They’ll be waiting for us in there.”

Sorey feels suddenly and inexplicably nervous. These people...they knew the old him. He hopes that he can live up to the Sorey they remember. 

He only gets to do a passing glance at the structure inside (square room, massive door on one side, smaller rooms overflowing with boxes and books…) before he spots the seraphs in the room.

There’s Edna and Zaveid and…

“Sorey!”

A tall woman with a thick mane of white and red hair cries his name and dashes to stand in front of him.

He’s distantly impressed with how well she moves in high heels.

“Hi, Lailah.” Mikleo says, still standing beside him.

Lailah...he looks at her and he can’t help the wide smile that breaks out on his face. _Trust, compassion, loyalty, strength, respect_...oh, he’s _missed_ her. He didn’t know her before this moment, but he knows that he missed her.

“It’s you.” She says and there are tears, bright and shining, in her eyes. “You’re here...you’re _okay_.”

“I’m okay.” He says and he smiles. “I promise I’m okay, Lailah.”

She smiles right back at him and gathers him up into a hug.

He hears Edna and Zaveid snickering fondly and then he hears Mikleo scolding them, but for now he’s content to let them laugh and to just hug Lailah.

“Sorey.” Lailah says, arms around him warm and inexplicably familiar. “Welcome back.”

 


	2. the new dawn

When Mikleo was seven, Gramps and a few other older seraphs took him to the very edges of Elysia, far from any prying eyes, and did a ceremony to reveal his true name. The ceremony itself is a blur in his memory, but the name itself is something he never, ever forgot.

“ _Luzrov Rulay_.” Gramps had whispered in his ear. “That is your true name.”

Even back then, before Mikleo had an understanding of the ancient language, before he could possibly know what those words meant, they had just felt right. It was like the words burrowed into him and nestled behind his breastbone like a second heartbeat.

Luzrov Rulay...that’s who he was. That was all of him.

Gramps told him never to tell it to anyone, not under any circumstances.

So he waited a whole five minutes before telling Sorey.

~~~~

“True names?” Sorey blinks at Mikleo. “What are those?”

“Psh, clueless as ever.” Edna calls from across the room.

“Stop eavesdropping!” Lailah chides.

“Well, if you heard me then you were eavesdropping too.” Edna points out.

“I...was not.” Lailah protests, but her cheeks are pink.

Mikleo sighs. It’s not like he expected 500 years would change then all that much, but some maturity could be nice. This is ridiculous. “Could you two give us a _tiny_ bit of privacy?” He complains.

“Oh, hush, Meebo.”

“Sorey.” Mikleo stands and flips the hair out of his eyes. “C’mon. We’re going outside.”

“Uh, okay.” Sorey gets up and follows him across the ruins and out into the night.

Edna snickers behind them.

It’s been a little over a month since they arrived at Tintengal and they’re still staying there, camped out in the ruin that has managed to house shepherds, squires and seraphs alike for more than five centuries. A few of the new shepherds and their seraph companions have passed through, as well as some traders who still fly the flag of the Sparrowfeathers. But with some deflection by Lailah, they’ve managed to keep Sorey’s awakening more or less under wraps.

It’s not that Mikleo isn’t excited to get Sorey back to the people. He is...he can’t wait for Sorey to see all the history that has been created while he’s been sleeping, to see all the history that he himself is a part of.

It’s just that...once Sorey gets back, he’ll start belonging to the whole world, not just to the friends who waited for him. If Mikleo has fans, then Sorey surely will. There will be scholars and holy men and politicians and artists and...just, so many of people. So many that Mikleo probably won’t get a word in edgewise for like a hundred years.

He knows that it’s probably wrong and selfish to keep the savior of the world hidden at an old temple because he doesn’t want to share, but well. He and Sorey’s other former lords, Lailah, Edna and Zaveid, were all in agreement without even talking about it.

The world deserves Sorey. But they deserve him first.

“Edna is the most annoying person on the continent.” Mikleo declares, clambering up onto a broken pillar and sitting at the top. Sorey climbs up and sits beside him. He’s warm, warmer than he was as a human.

“I like her.” Sorey says with a shrug. “She’s funny.”

“You’re deluded.” Mikleo says.

“And you take things too personally.”

“I do not!”

“You so do.”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

They both glare at each other for a minute before breaking into giggles.

He still feels like a giddy idiot when he looks at Sorey. Because he always knew that Sorey was going to come back, but it isn’t until moments like this, him and Sorey out in a mildy chilly night under a sky dripping with stars, that he really feels it. Sorey is back. No more waiting. No more being alone.

“Ah, I suppose we’ll just have to disagree.” Sorey says, leaning back on his hands to look at the stars. “Wow. Have you ever seen so many stars?”

“I have.” Mikleo says. “Once, I visited the ocean and took a boat out a few miles from the shore. After the sun set, the whole night sky was reflected in the ocean. It was like there were stars above me and below.”

“That sounds amazing.” Sorey say.

“I’ll take you.” Mikleo says and bites down on the rest of the sentence. Bites down on the _I’ll take you anywhere, everywhere, I’ll show the whole world._ Sorey doesn’t remember Mikleo the same way that Mikleo remembers him. Sorey doesn’t know about their promises, about the bond they shared.

“I’d like that.” Sorey says and his grin puts the ocean full of stars to shame. Mikleo is struck dumb, glad when Sorey looks away and back up at the sky.

“You know, I think remember that someone once said that there were as many emotions at there are stars in the sky.”

“I…” Mikleo swallows hard. “I heard that too.”

“It’s a nice thought.”

“You’re such a romantic.”

Sorey just shrugs and keeps looking at the stars. For a few minutes, they’re both quite. The only sounds are the faint cooing of night birds and the chirping of crickets.

“What was it you were saying inside? About true names?”

“Oh, right.” Mikleo says. “I was wondering if you remembered what they were.”

“Uh, no.” He winces. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mikleo says. “I’ll explain. All seraphs have true names. They’re...more than just the thing that a seraph is called. It’s what they are. Who they are. The most important things about them.”

“And you all have them?”

“We do.” Mikleo says with a nod.

Mikleo doesn’t say his, waiting for Sorey to ask.

Sorey doesn’t ask.

“Oh.” Sorey shifts a little. “I don’t know mine.”

“That’s okay.” Mikleo smiles at him. “I’m sure Lailah knows the ceremony and if she doesn’t, we can go back to Elysia and ask Kyme.”

“Elysia…” Sorey narrows his eyes a little, still looking at the stars and not at Mikleo. “That’s...the place that we’re from, yeah? The seraph capital?”

“Yes.” Mikleo says. “That’s home.”

“Can we go there soon?” Sorey says softly. “Maybe…maybe it can help me remember.”

Mikleo doubts it, but he just nods.

“Of course. We can leave tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Mikleo.”

Mikleo doesn’t answer and they sit there for a long time, staring at the sky full of stars.

 

* * *

 

“You’re sure you want to leave?” Zaveid repeats the question for about the ninth time.

“No.” Mikleo sighs. “But Sorey wants to. And I…” He just shrugs and Zaveid doesn’t feel the need to ask any more. Mikleo, feared and respected water seraph who is a subject to legends and myths and, one time, a small religious cult, is about as unyielding as marshmallow when it come Sorey.

“Well, Mik-boy,” Zaveid slings an arm over his shoulder. “We can make it a grand tour, eh? Show our boy the best of Highland.”

Mikleo scowls at him and, despite the fancy duds and long, luxurious hair, it’s like not a day has passed since they met. “You do realize if the church were to get words that he’s back, or the universities or...let’s face it, _anyone_ , we’d be mobbed. We can’t just go out there and hope for the best, we need careful planning and…”

Zaveid releases Mikleo and holds up his hands. “Woah, there. Ain’t no trip I’ve ever taken that has had the words _careful planning_ tacked onto it.”

“Well.” Mikleo flips his hair all sassy-like. “That’s apparent.”

“Oh, burn.” Edna says breezily. She’s passing by, a stack of boxes lit up with yellow light sliding across the ground in front of her. Lailah is making them clean before they leave and it’s been the opposite of fun so far. Who knew that so much crap could pile up in five-hundred years?

“Stay out of this, you.” Zaveid says. Edna slings her umbrella over her shoulder with a roll of her eyes and continues on.

Zaveid glances over to where Sorey is talking with Lailah, both of them burning cobwebs and vines off of the ceiling. Sorey looks excited and Lailah is patient as ever, even when he misfires and a curtain bursts into flames.

“Oi, Sorey!” He hollers.

“Uh, yeah?” Sorey says, turning away from Lailah to look at him. There’s soot dusting his nose and the tips of his hair. No way is he Zaveid’s type, but he can recognize cute when he sees it. Beside him, Mikleo seems to be on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Wanna stop at some bars and some baths and some REALLY COOL RUINS on the way to Elysia?” Zaveid shouts.

Mikleo stops drooling over Sorey long enough to shoot Zaveid a betrayed look.

“Yeah!” Sorey says brightly. “That sounds awesome!”

“I hate you.” Mikleo mutters.

“No, you love me.” Zaveid says. “Because I’m great.”

“No.” Mikleo huffs and stalks away, summoning his staff as he goes.

“Where you going?” Zaveid calls after him.

“To check the basement for rats!” He shouts without turning back. Zaveid almost feels sorry for the rats.

“Oh, can I come?” Sorey bounds over to him like puppy.

Mikleo the marshmallow sighs. “Of course, Sorey.”

Zaveid snickers as they go, Sorey chirping excitedly about the REALLY COOL RUINS that Zaveid had promised. Mikleo looks both resigned and reluctantly charmed, reaching out to rub some of the ash and dirt off of Sorey’s face.

“We were getting some really good work done with his artes, Zaveid.” Lailah is walking over, dusting off her dress. “Why did you have to distract him?”

“Meebo was getting uppity.” Edna supplies, coming over and sitting on the crate that Zaveid was supposed to be moving.

He considers it for a minute and then just sits on the crate beside her. Whatever. He can move it later.

“You shouldn’t tease him so much.” Lailah says, but she’s smiling.

“It’s not our fault he’s such an easy target.” Edna says.

“He’d chill out some if he was getting laid.” Zaveid says.

“Not this again.” Lailah huffs and shoves him a bit to make room for herself on the box.

“Yes this again!” Zaveid says. “They need to get their shit together. Things would be about fifty times better if we didn’t have to deal with them doing their dumb mutually unrequited but actually very much requited love thing.”

“Do you really think sex would have that much of an impact?” Lailah says.

“It’s not even about that, really.” Zaveid says and, for once, he’s being honest. He’s seen this kind of thing before and, frankly, it’s starting to make him remember things that he thought he had buried. “They need to admit how they feel about each other. It’s never a good idea to live in denial of the things that you want.”

“Oh, wow.” Edna says. “You’re so wise, old man Zaveid.”

“C’mon, I’m serious.” He says.

“Seriously lame.” Edna says.

“We’re seraphs.” Zaveid says and he knows an edge of his exhaustion is showing in his voice because Lailah is looking at him with wide, surprised eyes. “If we’re not honest with ourselves, if we deny reality...well.” He sighs, heavy like it’s all the way from his toes. “We’ve all seen what happens then.”

Edna hops off the box and leaves the two of them without a word. Zaveid doesn’t try to stop her. They both deal with Eizen in different ways.

“Zaveid…” Lailah says after a long moment, gentle. “I know you mean well, but do you really think being honest about how they feel will really change anything?”

“It would have with Eizen.” He says and gets off of the box, ignoring the way she’s staring at him. “Now, c’mon. Don’t we have some more cleaning to do?”

 

* * *

 

They leave the next morning, just like Mikleo promised. Sorey gathers up his scant possessions and heads out into the unknown with his friends by his side. He chats with Lailah and laughs with Zaveid and is picked on by Edna and tries not to make the fact that he's in love with Mikleo too obvious. 

It’s getting...easier, sort of, to be in love with Mikleo.

As time passes, he’s more and more sure of it. He loves Mikleo. He’s loved Mikleo for a really long time. Loving Mikleo is as much a part of him as anything.

“So where should we go first?” He asks, falling into step beside Mikleo.

Mikleo’s longer legs mean that Sorey has to take quicker steps to keep up with him. “Well, to get to Elysia we have to pass by a few towns. There’s also a ruin or two I think we could stop at, but we should probably stay out the public eyes as much as we can and…"

“Ah, c’mon!” Zaveid lopes up to Sorey’s other side. “He’s been asleep for five-hundred years. We’ve gotta let Sorey have some fun!”

“The ruin thing sounds fun.” Sorey says honestly. He explored the Tintengal ruins from top to bottom while they were there, he managed filled in a few pieces of the shepherd legend to boot, but he’s eager for something new and exciting.

“It does.” Mikleo says proudly.

“What about wine and women and dancing, huh?” Zaveid says. “At least let us stop in town for a meal. Sorey here hasn’t had anything good to eat for five-hundred years!”

“The town where I stopped had some pretty good food.” Sorey says. “I want to go back there someday...everyone was really nice.” He’s been thinking of Beech Grove, wondering if Lazlo and his grandchildren expect him to come back.

“You mean that tiny place outside of Camlaan?” Zavied looks unimpressed. “Sorey, buddy, that was a farming village at best...we need to get you to civilization!”

“I saw a bunch of old ruins and villages and stuff on my way down from Camlaan.”

“I think he means civilization where everyone is still alive.” Edna says.

“Oh...I see.” Sorey considers it and shrugs. “It would be nice to see a bigger town or a city…” He looks over at Mikleo. “What do you think, Mikleo?”

“I think it’s a bad idea.” Mikleo says. “For obvious reasons. You’re Shepherd Sorey...you’ll be mobbed.”

“Well,” Sorey is still a bit weirded out by the idea that he’s famous, to be honest. So far, he’s done his best to ignore that fact until he can rationalize it a bit better. “I don’t have to tell them that I’m, uh, me...right?” He looks around at his friends. “We could be disguised!”

“You’re so dumb.” Mikleo huffs.

“Hey, I think it’ll work!” Sorey says and looks over at Zavied. “What do you think Zavied?”

“I don’t care as long as I get a drink.”

“My cards say its a good idea!” Lailah pipes up. “And besides, we’re close to Roseburg...they’ve got a lovely jewelry shop there and a place that sells the best mabo curry buns!”

“Mabo curry…” Sorey stops walking. He suddenly feels like the warm day has grown cold. His eyes hurt. He wants to stop walking, to curl up and never to get up again.

He lost something, he lost...

“Rose.” Edna says flatly. “The shepherd after you. She liked them.”

“Oh.” Sorey swallows. His four guardians have stopped walking and are standing around him in a loose but undeniably protective circle. “Rose...right. Mikleo mentioned her before, I just…” He swallows again, harder.

“Roseburg is named for her.” Lailah says gently. “She founded it as a trading stop back when we were just starting out. They changed the name in memory of her after she...after she died.”

She reaches out carefully to touch his arm. He lets her.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be.” He says. “We can stop there. At Roseburg, I mean. I’d like to see it.”

Three hours later, they’re walking through the gates of Roseburg. It’s a bright place with colorful awnings and window boxes bursting with colorful flowers. Sorey likes it immediately. He’s sure Rose, even if he can’t really remember her, would have liked it too.

Most of the people there can see them. It’s not a surprise. Lailah informed him on the way that Roseburg has long been populated by a mix of humans and seraphs, many of them relatives, friends or descendants of the shepherd and squires who served at Tintengal.

“Wow!” He grins at his friends. “This place is great!”

They all look relieved he’s over the depression that kicked in when they were on their way. He’s not over it. The reality of the situation, the reality that hundreds of years passed and that he lost people he cared about, is still weighing on him. But he can deal with it, he can put it aside and look at it later when he has more time alone and hopefully more memories.

He’s been trying his hardest, believing as best he can, but the memories have stayed lost.

“You really like it, huh?” Mikleo asks, arms folded.

Sorey nudges him with an elbow. “I really do.”

He wants his memories back so, so bad.

They walks down the main road, a bustling cobbled street crowded with merchants hawking their wears and curious customers and children and stray dogs running around underfoot. It’s a mixture of humans and seraphs and everyone seems so alive.

He doesn’t know Rose, but if this is the place she left behind then he thinks he would have liked her.

“It’s gotten bigger since I was here last.” Zaveid says idly, thumbs hooked through the his beltloops.

“When were you here last?” Sorey asks curiously.

“Eh, a coupla decades.” Zaveid shrugs. “Coming back this way means doing all sorts of favors for Lailah.”

“You always volunteer to do things for me.” Lailah protests. “It’s not my fault I say yes!”

“You use your good looks against me, woman.” Zaveid says. “If you weren’t so beautiful, then I wouldn’t feel like I have to offer!”

“Uh, what that an insult or a compliment?” Sorey asks Mikleo in an undertone. “I can’t tell.”

“Just ignore them.” He says. “That’s what I always do.”

Lailah and Zaveid continue to bicker good-naturedly and Sorey peers curiously through the windows of the shops they pass. There’s a cozy-looking bookstore he wants to visit later, maybe just him and Mikleo could make the trip if no one else is interested, and next to it is yet another stall selling mabo curry buns. He looks through the window of a store selling clothing and accessories, some of them very silly.

“We can go shopping, if you want.” Lailah says with a smile.

“Huh?” He looks away from the window and back at her.

“For new clothes.” She gestures to what he’s wearing, still the mismatched farmer’s clothes he got from Lazlo. “Those aren’t very stylish and I can’t imagine that they’d be comfortable either.”

“Oh, uh...they’re fine.” He shrugs. To be honest, he hasn’t really thought about his clothes. “I don’t really need anything new.”

She raises her eyebrows, but just says, “If you’re sure.”

They spend a few hours just wandering. Sorey enjoys chatting with the locals who can see him about anything and everything. They comment on the current governor, apparently a distant descendant of one of Rose’s adopted children, and about the weather and about the price of mabo curry buns. It’s fun. He gets the feeling that he’s always liked meeting new people.

They stop in a few shops, most of them bookstores because Sorey is already sure that with and without his memories he’s the sort of person who loves books and learning. He doesn’t have any money on him, but he’s making a list of books he eventually wants to read. Most of them are books about the Shepherd or about the past 500 years.

“Not that one.” Mikleo comes up behind him, using the couple of inches he has one Sorey to pluck the book he’s holding out of his hands.

“What?” Sorey pouts. “Why? It sounded interesting.” It was called Adventures of the Shepherd and had an illustration on the front of a muscular man with nothing but a black and white cloak covering his bare chest. On the back cover it promised Adventure! and Romance! and Daring Deeds!

Sorey would like to know very much if he was part of any of those things.

Mikleo scoffs. “There’s a lot of books like these. You know,” He looks over at Sorey with a faintly amused expression. “Pure trash.”

“So they’re not accurate?” Sorey feels mildly let down. He would have liked to have had Adventure!, Romance! and Daring Deeds!

“Oh, not by a long shot.” He holds up the book again and gestures to the generic-looking man on the cover. “I mean, for one thing, you were never that fit.”

“Hey!” Sorey tries to snatch the book back, but Mikleo holds it out of his reach and flips it open.

“And the dialogue!” Mikleo says, grin widening, “C’mon, Sorey. You might be a sentimental idiot, but I’m sure you never said anything _this_ cheesy.” He clears his throat. “‘My squire, your flaxen hair is as smooth as silk and as delicate as a butterfly’s wingbeat.’” Mikleo snorts. “What is that even suppose to mean?”

“Mikleo!” Sorey tries to grab the book, but Mikleo is shoving him away with one hand and holding the book up with the other, still reading.

“Oh, this one is pretty good…’Your eyes are as shiny as a pair of diamond orbs!’ Diamond orbs, Sorey? _Really_?”

“I never said that!” Sorey flails ineffectively towards the book. “Give it, come on!”

The other customers are probably staring at their impromptu wrestling match and judging, but Sorey doesn’t care. He wants that book! Also, he might be enjoying a reason to be all up on Mikleo’s very warm and very, uh, fit body, but that is neither here nor there.

“These books always have you being this total ladies man.” Mikleo says. “This one for example,” He flips it over to scan the back, “Has you together with both Alisha and Rose. My, my…” He shakes his head, “I never knew you were such a player, Sorey.”

“Oh. I wasn’t, was I?” Sorey says with a frown. He’s pretty sure that he only ever loved Mikleo, memories or no. He can’t really fathom loving anyone more than he loves Mikleo right now. It’s such a big part of him, such an integral part of the foundation that he’s built himself on, that he’s sure loving someone else was never really in the cards.

“No.” Mikleo is slides the Adventures of the Shepherd back onto the shelf, his smile fading. “A lot of the books...no matter how many times I told them otherwise or Alisha or Rose did...” He sighs, “They all seem to think you needed a love interest.”

Sorey decides to be a bit bold and looks sidelong at Mikleo. “Alisha and Rose...were they the only ones authors ever wrote about me with?”

Mikleo’s cheeks go a bit pink and he doesn’t look at Sorey. “I, ah…”

“Come on, nerds.” Edna suddenly pops up between them and jabs Mikleo hard in the side with her umbrella. “I’m bored and you two are making a scene. Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Edna…” Sorey starts to complain, but Mikleo turns towards the door and starts towards it. His cheeks are still pink.

Sorey is suddenly very curious if there are any books, accurate or not, that depict a relationship between the Shepherd and his water seraph. He lets the other four lead the way out of the bookstore, still considering it.

“Are you okay, Sorey?” Lailah asks, falling back to walk beside him.

“Yeah.” He says slowly and then again with more surety. “Yeah...I’m good.”

They make their way to a large tavern called Shepherd’s Rest because Zaveid thinks he’s funny. It only takes a few minutes of Lailah’s winning smile and Mikleo’s even more winning hair-flip before they’ve got drinks, food and a large, cozy table to themselves.

Sorey, sitting comfortably between Zaveid and Mikleo, eats with relish. He doesn’t need food, but he still enjoys it quite a bit.

“Mmmm, this is amazing!” He says brightly, taking a few more bites of stew.

“That’s nothing compared to drago stew.” Edna says, her tone almost wistful.

“Drago stew…” Sorey sits up. “That was...it had carrots cut into the shape of stars, yeah?”

“Seriously?” Zaveid laughs. “ _That’s_ the thing your remember?”

Sorey just shrugs. He can’t control what he does and doesn’t remember.

“So,” Mikleo is looking at him. “Do you remember Sergei, then?”

“Sergei?” Sorey bites his lip. That name...it’s like...a song that he almost knows, or a fact that he read but can’t recall where. It’s like his mind is telling him _yes you know this_ but won’t tell him anything more. He shakes his head. He sees their expression fall just a fraction and he hates it.

He wants his memories back. He wants to know all the things that he did and the people he knew and...ugh. He just wants to know.

“Who was Sergei?” He asks because right now that’s his only option.

“He was a friend.” Mikleo says, turning back to his own stew. “And he made us drago stew. He was a knight and he helped us to end the war.” He brings a spoonful of stew to his mouth and blows on it. “If you have questions, we can answer them, but it would probably be best to wait until I can get you a copy of his autobiography. I think have one back in Elysia…”

“Cool.” Sorey says. “I’ll add it to the list of books I need to read.”

“You have a list?” Lailah asks curiously.

“Yep!” Sorey smiles at her. “It’s getting pretty long...I was asleep for awhile, you know.”

“Yes Sorey.” Lailah says. “We know.”

“I bet Adventures of the Shepherd is at the top.” Mikleo says in an undertone.

Sorey grins and elbows him. “Shut it, you.”

They eat the rest of their stew and have one round of drinks and then another and then one more. The tavern is getting crowded as it gets dark outside, people and seraphs talking and laughing all around them. It feels warm and homey and Sorey would be enjoying himself, but...

“People are staring at us.” Sorey mumbles to Mikleo. “Do you think they recognize me?”

Sorey’ noticed that Mikleo and the others seem to want to keep him out of the public eye. He trusts them so he’s not gonna question it too much. According to Mikleo, he was a big deal back when he was alive and now that he’s come back to life...well, Sorey could see how it might get complicated if there were a bunch of people all wanting to meet him.

He’s sure they’ll share the news someday, probably someday soon, but for now he’s happy to reconnect with the four people who waited for him to wake up.

It’s Edna who answers his question, clutching a pint of ale and looking at him like he’s the stupidest person on the planet. “They’re not staring because they know you, idiot. They’re staring because they want you.”

“Uh…” Sorey blinks. “What to they want from me?”

Mikleo shoots him a look. “Well, you know.” His voice is a little bit rough. “They think you look...and they want to...yes. You know.”

“Um, no I don’t.”

Across the table, Zaveid and Lailah have stopped their drinking contest to listen in. They both look pretty amused by the whole situation and Sorey doesn’t really get why. What’s funny?

Edna sets down her pint. It hits the table with a solid thump. “What Meebo is trying and failing to say is that even those farmer’s duds, you’re pretty smoking.”

“Smoking?” Sorey jumps up and starts patting his clothes. “Where? I thought I’d put out the last fire in time…”

Zaveid starts snickering.

“Sorey…” Lailah says, apparently taking pity on him. “They think you’re handsome.”

“Oh...oh!” Sorey feels himself blushing. “Smoking like...right!”

He might be actually literally smoking now. Like with real fire. He just feels so flustered...he literally can’t remember a time when someone called him handsome.

Mikleo is staring at him with something that might be despair. “She said smoking and you thought…” He shakes his head. “Don’t talk to me.”

“Okay, c’mon.” Sorey says, letting himself fall into the chair again. “It’s not like I haven’t set myself on fire today.”

“True enough.” Mikleo admits.

“I dunno if handsome is the right word…” Edna is looking at him consideringly. “Maybe pretty. Sorey’s pretty.”

“W-what?” Sorey starts.

Zaveid continues to snicker.

“I think you’ve had a bit much to drink, Edna.” Mikleo says.

“Oh hush up.” Edna waves a hand in his direction. “You’re the original pretty boy.”

“Hey!”

“How about me, miss Edna?” Zaveid asks, grinning like an idiot. “Am I pretty?”

“No.” She says. “You’re trash.”

That makes Sorey and Mikleo both lose it.

“I’m going to get more drinks.” Zaveid says, clambering to his feet. “To help me recover from this grievous insult.”

“Wait, no, we should get moving before….and he’s gone.” Mikleo huffs out a sigh. “No one ever listens to me.”

“You should be used to it then.” Edna says flatly.

Mikleo’s eye twitches, but he ignores her.

“Well,” He says, “If we’re going to be here a while then we should use the time to plan a route.” He rifles through his bag for a few moments and produces a map. It’s care-worn and heavily-altered, clearly well-used.

“Is this yours?” Sorey asks curiously.

“Yeah.” Mikleo says absently. “Hmmm…” He bites his lip and Sorey, warm and loose from all of the alcohol, suddenly can’t focus on anything but that.

“Edna’s right. You _are_ pretty.” He says stupidly. Because he’s stupid. And probably a bit drunk.

“ _Huh_?” Mikleo looks up from his map, his face bright red.

“I...er, nevermind.” Sorey laughs and rubs the back of his neck. “I just...I mean...you know what? Let’s look at the map. I am _very_ interested in this map.”

“Um, right.” Mikleo is still blushing like a sunset, but even nicer to look at. “Map. So, I thought, um...like,” He puts a hand up to his chin. “We’re going to Elysia. So, like...this could be our route.”

“Sure, sure.” Sorey agrees without looking at the route. He’s still staring at Mikleo.

Zaveid and Lailah keep giving them drinks and soon the map is tucked back in Mikleo’s bag and they’re all slumped against the table, telling stories that all seem to trail off into mumbles before the endings.

“The one time with the dragon, you know, the one with the thing and then...yeah. We did the thing, you know…”

“Oh, and the guy! You know, the guy with the hair!”

“Yeah…”

Sorey just kind of hums in agreement even though he’s not following. He’s never been drunk before, not that he can remember, but he’s pretty sure he’s drunk now. The room is tilting a bit and he feels warm and hot and he loves all of his friends so much…

“I love you all.” He says, cutting through Zaveid’s rambling story about a cursed painting that makes zero sense.

“We love you too, buddy.” Zaveid responds easily. He smiles. “Missed you when you were gone.”

“A bit.” Edna agrees.

“More than a bit.” Lailah say with a smile. Out of all of them, she seems the least drunk. Out of all of them, Sorey is sure she’s drunk the most alcohol.

Well, whatever.

Something tugs on his sleeve and he looks to over to see Mikleo gripping his the fabric in his hand.

“Sorey.” Mikleo looks at him seriously, purple eyes intense.

“Mikleo?” Sorey doesn’t mean for it to come out like a question but it does. Mikleo leans closer, puts a hand on Sorey’s cheek and…

He bursts into tears.

“Mikleo?” Sorey recoils, alarmed.

“I m-m-missed you!” Mikleo just collapses against him, warm and kind of wet from all of the tears. “So m-much!” He’s crying noisily into Sorey’s shoulder. Sorey pats his hair awkwardly.

Mikleo cries for a while, but pretty soon he winds down into faint hiccups and soft sounds against Sorey’s neck. Sorey is surprised that no one comments on it, but Edna has already passed out and Zaveid is at the bar picking up some girl so that’s probably why.

Sorey doesn’t mind holding him like this. In fact, he really likes it. Mikleo has done so much for him. It’s nice to be able to do something for him, even something small and silly like holding him when he hiccups himself to sleep after drinking too much.

Mikleo is heavy and warm and real against Sorey and he wishes so hard that he had all of his memories back, that he could know everything about Mikleo.

But his past stays gone.

He holds Mikleo a bit tighter before laying him as carefully as he can on the table.

Sorey examines Mikleo for a long moment. He’s still slumped over the table, dead asleep. Even like that, he’s so nice looking. He’s well-dressed too. More than well-dressed. His clothes look like they belong on a prince or something. Do they still have princes? Sorey really needs to get up to date on the sociopolitical situation of the Glenwood continent.

Anyway.

Sorey looks down at himself. His clothes are mismatched and frayed and...erugh. He looks like some sort of farming hobo. No wonder Mikleo won’t kiss him like Sorey wants him too.

“I think I need new clothes.” He says to Lailah very seriously. She is the only one awake and still at the table. Zaveid disappeared with some barmaid a while ago. Which, first of all, is super gross. But good for him or whatever.

“Okay Sorey.” Lailah says with a smile. “We can go get you some new clothes tomorrow.”

“Cool.” Sorey says before slumping on the table besides Mikleo and letting himself fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

Seraphs can get hangovers. It’s a pesky thing, really, but unavoidable. Lailah has a tolerance to alcohol built up over centuries, though, so drinking enough to get her hungover is a real challenge. She’s fine after the drinking she did, so she doesn’t bother sleeping and instead makes her way upstairs and out a window to sit on the roof and watch the sunrise.

Lailah doesn't bother trying to wake Mikleo, Sorey and Edna before she goes. They’ll need some time to sleep it off. She does need to take Sorey shopping at some point, though. He seemed very concerned about it before he passed out.

Last night was...nice. Sorey was always too worried about hellions or spies to drink back when he was the Shepherd. It was always too much of a risk to have him unable to fight. But now, things are peaceful. Good. And so Sorey doesn’t need to worry so much about keeping his guard up.

Last night was one of the first times that Lailah has seen Sorey act his age. Or, erm, act like what his age was before he slept for five hundred years.

He drank too much and smiled widely at the boy he liked and acted like a silly young man. It was so nice to see. Lailah feels so fond of Sorey and of Mikleo and of Edna and of...

“Mind if I join you, pretty lady?”

Lailah looks up to see Zaveid standing behind her, shirtless and smiling. She gestures wordlessly to the empty bit of roof beside her. He settles down, smelling like sweat and whiskey. It’s a nice smell after all of this time...something familiar in a world that changes so fast these days. Zaveid is like that. A constant presence in a world that seems to have fewer all the time.

“It’s a beautiful morning.” Lailah says after a long, silent stretch. The sun is breaking over the horizon, coloring the sky with pinks and greys.

“Any morning with you is beautiful.”

“Oh, is that right?” She looks at him sidelong and smiles. She likes his flirting, always has. It makes her feel special, feel noticed, and after a lifetime spent in a world that often overlooked her, she just...likes it.

“You know that it is.” His answering smile is rakish and she shakes her head fondly.

“So how was your time with the barmaid?” She asks, to be polite not because she really cares.

He grins wide. “You're not jealous, are you Lady Lailah?”

“I've resigned myself to the fact that our love will never be.” She jokes.

“Smart woman.” He says, “I'm too much man for any one person to handle.”

“Is that right?”

He nods. “My lot in life is a tragic one.”

She laughs a little at that.

“Don't mock my pain.”

“I wouldn't dream of it.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a while, watching the sky.

“We should leave today.” Lailah says after a bit, leaning back on her hands. “Mikleo isn’t entirely wrong to be cautious. Sorey will have to speak with the church and the scholars someday soon, but…”

“The kid just woke up.” Zaveid stretches, long and languid like a cat. “He needs some time to get himself together.” He lets out a satisfied sound. “Ah, that’s better.”

“Him and Mikleo…” She starts, but stops because she’s not sure where to go next. Sorey and Mikleo...it’s a complicated puzzle now, with Sorey’s memory missing and Mikleo’s lingering reluctance. But...then they look at each other and Lailah feels like it should be simple.

“I hoped the alcohol would loosen Mikky up a bit.” Zaveid says. “Maybe get some progress going. Instead he just cried everywhere.”

“Well, Mikleo has always been a weepy drunk.” Lailah says with a bit of a laugh.

“Ah, yeah.” Zaveid laments. “I forgot that. D’you remember back when we went to Pendrago after the Sorey memorial wing of the university opened and…”

“Mikleo got so drunk.” Lailah finishes and laughs. “Oh, how could I forget? He cried all over Edna and she shut him in the wall.” She giggles again, remembering the affronted look on Mikleo’s face when he’d managed to get out of the wall. “He hasn’t changed as much as he thinks he has.”

“He’s a good kid, though.” Zaveid grunts.

“Mmmm.” Lailah nods. “Him and Sorey, they’re the best of us.”

They sit in silence for a while longer and watch the sun rise, slow and steady.

“We should go wake the others.” Lailah says finally, getting to her feet and brushing off her dress. “I want to take Sorey shopping...those clothes he’s in are an atrocity.”

“I like it when you talk all fancy.” Says Zavied. “You go wake up the kids. I wanna stay out a bit longer.”

“Suit yourself.” She says, touching his shoulder for a moment before ducking back through the window and into the hallway. She halls are still empty and she makes her way back downstairs without bothering anyone.

It takes a while to get the others up. There’s a lot of moaning (from Sorey), some low cursing (from Mikleo) and some death threats (from Edna), but eventually she manages to get them all up and on their feet. Mikleo and Sorey are clutching each other for support (cute!) and Edna looks like she might actually attack Lailah.

Still, once Lailah manages to get them all some coffee and toast, they look a bit more human. Or, um, seraph. Less hungover, at any rate!

Zaveid lopes back in halfway through breakfast and proceeds to gross them all out with a very detailed account of his adventures with a very willing barmaid the night before. Edna rolls her eyes, Lailah just shakes her head and Sorey and Mikleo make retching sounds.

Ultimately, it ends with Edna dumping a cup of hot coffee over his head and jabbing him with her umbrella while he shrieks about how unfair they all are to him. Sorey and Mikleo aren’t listening anymore, heads bent over a map and voice low as they discuss their next move.

So...it’s a pretty ordinary morning.

Lailah sits beside Sorey and Mikleo, sipping her own coffee. Their breakfast is uneaten and forgotten, all of the attention on the map and, more truthfully, on staring at each other when the think the other one isn’t looking.

It’s very cute.

“Where are we going after this?” Lailah asks them. “Have you decided yet?”

“Oh, Lailah!” Sorey says. “We, Mikleo and me I mean, we were thinking we could head to Elysia? That’s where I’m from and I thought it might help my memories…”

“That sounds fine to me!” She says. “We need to take care of a few things in town, but we can head that way after.”

“Sure.” Sorey agrees easily.

“What do we need to do?” Mikleo asks suspciously.

“Well,” Lailah says with a bright smile, “Sorey was very keen on going shopping for new clothes last night.”

“Er, I was?”

“Oh, _yes_.” She says. She is not letting him get out of this. They are getting him out of those terrible farmer clothes! Even Zaveid was dressed better than him and Zaveid was almost always missing a shirt.

Lailah ignores his protests and more or less drags him out of the Tavern and towards a nearby clothing store. Zaveid, Edna and Mikleo let them go off, waving and promising to meet them back at the store in an hour or so.

“Here we are!” Lailah says, waving a shop assistant over. “Yes, hello! We need some clothes for this young man!”

“Lailah, I don’t have money!” Sorey says.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She waves a hand. “I have more than enough to cover anything you want!”

“That’s not really the point...”

“So, a black shirt, right?” Lailah ignores his objections and turns to the shop assistant. “Or red? Hmmm…”

Lailah steers him towards reds and blacks and golds because he’s a fire seraph now and because she thinks they contrast well with Mikleo’s white and blues.

After a couple minutes of protest, Sorey starts to get into it a bit.

“No, I don’t like those boots..” He says with a frown. “They’re too loose...do you have any with more straps?”

“Where do you think your shoes are going to go, Sorey?” Lailah asks, but the shop assistant dutifully finds him a pair of boots with more straps.

It takes the better part of the morning, but eventually they have him all dressed in new clothes with a few more shirts and pairs of pants stowed in his bag. Despite his protests, Lailah pays for all of it and tells him not to worry about paying her back.

His new outfit looks nice.

It’s a lot like Mikleo’s, actually, but minus all of the intricate belts and with a single cape instead of Mikleo’s elaborate wing-things. Lailah doesn’t really understand the elaborate wing-things, but she is the person who trekked all around the continent, through forests and caves and deserts and swamps, in six-inch heels. So she’s not really in a position to judge anyone for their fashion choices.

“So, uh, is this good?” Sorey says, coming out of the dressing room clad in his new outfit once Zaveid, Edna and Mikleo have arrived.

“Oh, Sorey!” Lailah claps her hands together. “You look fantastic.”

“Smoking, dude.” Zaveid says with a wink.

“Shut up.” Sorey laughs.

“It’s an improvement.” Edna says graciously.

They’ve all said something, then. All of them except...

Without really meaning too, they all turn to Mikleo. His face is as red as the trimming on Sorey’s new clothes.

“You look... _yeah_.” Mikleo manages to get out.

“Is that...good?” Sorey ventures.

Mikleo looks away, covering up the lower part of his face with a hand and nods.

For a long moment, everyone watches as Mikleo and Sorey fail to make eye-contact.

“So _yeah_ means good now.” Edna says airily. “So...that’s a thing.”

“Shut up.” Says Mikleo.

“Well, I think he looks hot.” Zaveid says with a grin. “Perfect for wingman duty next time we stop. What do ya say, Sorey my boy?”

“Uh, I think I’ll pass for now.” Sorey says. “And probably for, like, forever. If you don’t mind.”

“Oh, come on man!” Zaveid says. “You were my wingman all of the time before you went to sleep!”

“I’m pretty sure you’re lying to me.” Sorey says.

“Would I lie to you?”

“Probably.”

“Well, consider me offended Shepherd…”

They head out of the shop and start to head towards the edge of town.

Lailah tunes Sorey and Zaveid’s conversation out and falls into step beside Mikleo. “He looks nice, doesn’t he?” She says innocently.

“It’s Sorey.” Mikleo says and there’s something resigned in his voice. “He always looks nice.”

“Ha.” Edna comes up to walk on his other side. “You’re so gone on him, Meebo.”

“Call me that again and I’ll actually drown you.”

“It’s been five-hundred years, Meebo. Your threats stopped being effective a while back.”

Mikleo just glowers.

“It’s not your fault.” Lailah says kindly. “Sorey is an easy sort of person of have, um, feelings for.”

“It’s true.” Edna says with a shrug. “I’m pretty sure everyone is at least a little bit in love with him.”

They all look at where Sorey is laughing, open and honest, at something Zaveid just said.

“Well,” Mikleo says, smiling helplessly, “You’re not wrong.”

 

* * *

 

The journey to Elysia is familiar.

Not the route itself; Edna has only bothered to come to Elysia three or four times in the last five hundred years. The seraphim there were boring. All they wanted to do was, like, stand around and contemplate things and appreciate nature.

Total snooze fest.

So, yeah. When she says the journey is familiar, it’s not the road there she’s talking about. It’s the people on the road.

After five hundred years, she knows all about Lailah’s horrible puns and Zaveid’s annoying jokes and long-winded stories and Mikleo’s tendency to say “did you know…” and go off on some history rant every fifteen minutes. They’ve traveled and worked together for so long that she anticipates and expects every word.

And Sorey, he fits in like he was never gone. He’s walking alongside Mikleo and spouting his own historical facts. He’s groaning along with the rest of them at Lailah’s puns. He’s falling for Zaveid’s stupid pranks.

Days pass and it’s...nice to be like this again with everyone. Not that Edna would ever admit that. Mikleo and Sorey bicker about the ruins they pass. Zaveid is a cheesy idiot and Lailah cheerfully keeps the peace. Edna looks at the sky, sees birds free and untethered and thinks about her brother.

She catches Sorey looking at Mikleo time and time again, so lovestruck that it makes her want to gag. But no matter how long it goes on for, neither one of them makes a move. They just keep sighing heavily and watching the other with big, moony eyes.

It’s past ridiculous. Now it’s just sad.

Soon it might be dangerous.

She very reluctantly realizes that she needs to say something. Lailah seems content to give them time and Zaveid doesn’t want to take what’s going on between them seriously, but Edna knows this song and dance and she decided a long time ago that an encore isn’t part of the plan.

She has to say something.

Sorey, she decides, is the one she needs to talk to. Mikleo is too stubborn to listen to her. Well, they’re actually both stupidly stubborn. But right now she thinks that Sorey will be the one more likely to cave. He doesn’t have a five hundred year grudge built up against her because of stupid nicknames either, so…

Sorey is the better choice.

She’s made her decision, but she puts it off and she puts it off until finally they’ve reached the Aroundite forest and she doesn’t have any more time left. They’re all stopping for a quick break and some dinner when Edna catches Sorey by the wrist and says, “Come with me. I need to talk to you.”

“Oh.” Sorey looks surprised. “Okay. Should I get the others…?”

“No.” Edna shakes her head. “You and me need to have some one on one. So come on.”

“Sure.” Sorey follows her and Edna is reminded of the times during their first journey that she and Sorey would spend time together, just the two of them. He was always uncannily good at sensing when one of their group them was stressed or upset. He used to take her aside sometimes when she couldn’t stop thinking about Eizen or when the stupid humans got to be too much.

He never made her talk about what was bothering her. He’d just sit with her, maybe make a couple of jokes at his own or Zaveid’s expense, and remind her that she wasn’t alone in the best way he knew how.

He was a stupid, young human. But he cared. And that was a lot more than what most people did.

So she’s going to have this conversation even though she doesn’t want to. This isn’t going to be easy. In fact, she’s dreading every word.

But it’s something that needs to be said.

She waits until they’re far enough away before finding a fallen tree to sit on. Sorey sits beside her and before he can ask what they're doing there she says, “So you’re in love with Mikleo.”

“I’m not.” He says and it’s shittiest, most half-hearted denial she’s ever heard so she doesn’t even bother to reply.

“Are you just going to stare at him forever and hope he notices?” She asks, partially because she’s making fun of him but also because that legitimately does seem to be his current strategy.

“It’s complicated.” He says with a frown. “My memories…”

“Memories shcmemories.” She says dismissively. “From what I can tell, you’re still the same old idiot.”

“Hey now.” He says mildly.

“Your feelings are the same, dummy.” She says. “Don’t you think?”

“I loved him before?” Sorey says and it comes out like a question even though she’s sure he already knows the answer.

“What do you think?” She says, annoyed, because this isn’t what she wanted to talk about.

He doesn’t answer. His hands are balled into fists by his sides.

“What are you gonna do, Shepherd?” She asks. “Tell me.”

“I’m just...going to wait.” He says softly. “For now, I guess. It’s not...I can wait until I’m positive about everything.”

“No you can’t.” Edna says flatly.

“Uh...why not?”

“Because things go wrong.” Edna says and she doesn’t give him a chance to respond before barreling on. “Nothing is ever positive all of the way."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen this before."

"What are you talking about?"

"My brother Eizen...he was in love with Zaveid.”

“What?” Sorey blinks. “Are you serious?” She knows he already knows the story of what happened to Eizen. She’s distantly relieved she doesn’t have to tell him that part.

“As long as I’ve known him, he was.” She says, keeping her voice expressionless. It’s just a story...this is just a story she needs to tell. “I never understood it, but he just...loved him.”

“Oh.” Sorey says. “Did you...did you tell Zaveid? How Eizen felt?”

“What? No.” She says. “Eizen begged me not to. He thought it would ruin everything...so I didn’t.”

“Ever?”

“Not until after my brother was too far gone to care.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because.” Edna says. “Eizen became a dragon. And his feelings for Zaveid were a part of that.”

Sorey is silent and so she continues to talk.

“It wasn’t the only reason he...became. What he did.” She shifts, her umbrella bouncing against her knees. “But it was the one that started it all. And,” Her voice gets soft and hurt without her permission, “It was one that ended it.”

“Edna…” Sorey says, but she forges on without stopping.

“It wasn’t even about how he felt, in the end...it was about the fact that Eizen was never honest about it.” She isn’t looking at him. Her eyes are on the cloudless sky. “If you’re a stupid human, then that sort of thing can fester in you and nobody else suffers. But when you’re a seraph…” She sighs. Talking about this makes her tired. “Well, the reason we need good shepherds is because there are those out there like my brother.”

“But it wasn’t his fault.” Sorey says and his voice breaks on the last word. “It’s not fair, he just…”

“My brother loved someone for centuries and never said a word.” She finally looks at him. His expression is so broken. She tries not to let it get to her. “And in the end, the guilt and the pain turned him into someone I didn’t recognize.”

There’s a beat where neither of them says anything.

“I’m so sorry.” Sorey says finally, voice quiet. .

“I didn’t tell you so you’d be sorry.” Edna says. “I told you so you’d make a different choice.”

“Oh.” Sorey says. He looks down at Edna. She meets his eyes. They’re clear and cloudless. Good.

“You’ve got a chance at something good, dummy.” Edna says and she lets herself be soft, be gentle, with him for just a second. “Don’t waste it.”

 

* * *

 

They get to Elysia as the sun is setting.

Something about it feels...right to Sorey. Like he’s completing something at last.

“We’ll let you both go first.” Lailah says quietly and she, Zaveid and Edna stay a ways from the gates, talking softly.

“Come on.” Mikleo takes Sorey’s hand and leads him up the path and through the gates, into a domain that feels inexplicably familiar.

“This is home.” Sorey says to Mikleo and he means to make it a question, but it doesn’t come out like that. This is home. It’s not a question.

“Welcome back.” Mikleo smiles over at him and Sorey smiles helplessly back.

Edna was right. They need to talk soon. He needs to be honest with Mikleo, memories or no.

“Mikleo?” An older-looking seraph is coming towards the gates, “Is something wrong? It’s lovely to see you, of course, but you only left a few weeks ago and usually your journeys last much…” Both his words and his feet stop when he sees Sorey standing there.

His mouth falls opens.

“Uh, hi?” Sorey waves.

“Sorey?” The seraph says in quiet wonder. “Is that really you?”

“Yep.” He smiles and even if he doesn’t exactly remember the seraph in front of him, he means it, “It’s me. I’m back.”

Mikleo takes a step to stand beside him. “Sorey’s having a bit of a memory problem, Kyme, so if he doesn’t remember you…”

“You’re a seraph.” The seraph, Kyme, says and there’s a smile on his lips and tears falling down his cheeks. “A fire seraph to boot!” He laughs, “Oh, old Zenrus would laugh if he could see you now.” Kyme comes up and puts his hands on Sorey’s shoulder. “Oh, my boy, he’d be so proud of you.”

Sorey knows the name Zenrus. Mikleo has told him about Zenrus, their gramps, the old lightning seraph that raised them both. He hopes that Kyme is right, that Zenrus would be proud of him.

“You think?” Sorey says.

Kyme pulls him into a hug. “Oh, Sorey.” He says. “He was always proud of you. We all were.”

More Elysians are noticing the commotion by the gates. Sorey starts to meet them, his family who waited for him. An earth seraph named Ed ruffles his hair and offers to take him hunting. A gorgeous seraph named Natalie puts her arms around him and Mikleo and cries about her little boys finally coming home.

More and more Elysians are pouring out from the low, stone houses and from the trees and the water and soon Sorey and Mikleo are surrounded on both sides by laughter and tears and voices calling their names and..

It’s love. It’s just...love.

They’re home. At last.

They’re both back home.

**~~~~**

Lailah is the one to do the ceremony to reveal Sorey’s true name.

She and the others hung around the edge of Elysia until Sorey noticed them lurking and he brought them in to hug and talk and laugh with the rest of his family. The Elysians and his old lords...they’re all his family.

It’s far after sundown by the time Mikleo gets around to asking Kyme about true names. Lailah talks with Kyme a bit, offering to let him do it, but he defers to Lailah.

“You were his Prime Lord.” He says. “It seems right that you do it.”

Mikleo leads the way with Sorey and Lailah, Edna, and Zavied trailing after him, showing them to a few open cliffs that are far enough from everyone else to have some privacy. He turns back to walk to where the rest of the Elysians are waiting, but Sorey catches his wrist.

“Stay.” He says.

“A-are you sure?” Mikleo’s cheeks are pink, visible even in the moonlight.

“Yeah.” Sorey smiles. “I’m sure.” He looks back at Zavied and Edna, who are already heading back. “You two stay too.”

“Oh yeah?” Zaveid says.

“Is this really wise?” Edna says flatly.

“I want all of you to know it.” Sorey says.

For a minute, they all stand together under the moon and Sorey smiles. He’s so lucky to have them all with him again.

“That’s good.” Lailah smiles at him. “You can all help me...come and stand on his right side Mikleo, just like that! And Edna you stand behind him, good, and Zaveid you come on his left!”

Lailah stands in front of him.

“What do I need to do?” Sorey asks in a whisper. For some reason, he feels like the situation merits whispering.

“Just close your eyes.” Lailah says softly and he feels her put a hand on his forehead. Edna’s hand, small and calloused, goes on his back. Zaveid’s, scarred and heavy, goes on his left shoulder. Mikleo’s, long-fingered and cool, goes on his right.

“Now then.” Lailah says. “Let’s begin.”

She begins to chant in the ancient tongue, too low for him to catch, and he starts to feel warm. He feels like he’s on fire, but in a good way. He thinks that if he were to open his eyes he would see something glowing, but he keeps them firmly shut and he feels so hot and light and…

“Novae Diluculo.” Lailah says, soft, but loud enough that they all hear. Sorey repeats it to himself and a new understanding of himself clicks into place.

He opens his eyes and sees Lailah smiling at him.

“Novae Diluculo.” He says and then translates as best he can. “Sorey of the New Dawn?”

“Yes.” She says. “That’s you.”

**~~~~**

  
They all split up after that; Lailah going to speak to Kyme, Zaveid going to chat up Natalie, Edna going to sit on the edge of the cliffs, Mikleo drifting off towards one of the low stone houses.

Sorey wonders idly if he has a house here still.

He spends some time talking with the Elysians, telling them about what he does and doesn’t remember, but he’s fading. After remeeting all of the Elysians and learning his true name, Sorey feels well and truly exhausted. He should take some time to sleep or at least to sit and read for a while.

But his feet lead him to Mikleo all the same.

Sorey finds him standing by the gates to Elysia, face relaxed and eyes distant.

“Mikleo?” Sorey makes his way to Mikleo’s side.

“Sorey.” Mikleo is dressed in something casual and soft-looking, probably his pajamas, and Sorey feels guilty for going to see him when Mikleo was probably thinking about heading to bed or something. “Hi.”

“Hey, can we maybe go somewhere and talk?” Sorey asks. The night around them is deep and spangled with stars. It reminds him of the dark where he slept with Maotelous. It feels healing.

Mikleo takes a minute to respond. It’s like he’s gathering himself. “Yes.” He says finally. “I...know a place. Come on.” 

Sorey follows Mikleo wordlessly as he leads the way away from Elysia and through a patch of forest and down a winding path. They don’t speak other than Mikleo giving him an occasional direction about where to step.

They come out on the side of a cliff.

“Whoa.” Sorey breathes. It’s a sheer drop, but there are ruins jutting out from it. The moon and stars give enough light to see them clearly. They’re bleached white and bare as old bones.

“We used to come here.” Mikleo says softly. “All of the time...it was like playground when we were growing up. We used to have contests about who could find cooler artifacts.”

“And I won every time.” Sorey says automatically.

Mikleo snorts. “As if.” He starts walking towards the ruins and Sorey follows.

Mikleo helps him over fallen pillars and past crumbling gaps. Sorey almost falls when a hunk of rock decides to give away beneath his feet.

“Careful!” Mikleo hisses as he reaches out to stop him from falling. “It’s been five-hundred years since I was here. I’m sure it’s unstable in parts.”

“You didn’t come here without me?” Sorey says.

Mikleo looks out at the night sky. “I didn’t want to.”

“Oh.”

They stop soon after, sitting down together on a jutting slab of rock that looks stable enough to support them both.

“It’s a nice night.” Mikleo says after a while.

“Yeah.” Sorey agrees. “The stars are nice.”

There are a few beats of silence.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Mikleo asks.

On their way over, Sorey considered how to start. He considered careful questions and well-thought-out plans and cautious hints. But now that he’s here and Mikleo is looking at him with soft, beautiful eyes under a sky full of stars...he can’t do much besides be honest.

“I love you.” He says simply. “I’m in love with you.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t look surprised.” Sorey says.

“I…” Mikleo shakes his head. “I suppose that I’m not. Surprised, that is.”

“Did you already know?” Sorey asks. “From before?”

“We never talked about it.” Mikleo says. “But I suppose that by the time we left Elysia together we both knew. I mean, how we felt about each other.”

“We?” Sorey feels his heart start to beat in double time.

Mikleo smiles and it’s not happy, it’s helpless. “You really think I didn’t love you in every single way?” He laughs and it’s a broken sound. Sorey wants to fix it, but he can’t remember how. “Sorey...I waited for you for five hundred years.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to be.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“Look, Sorey…” Mikleo sighs. “We can’t do this. Not now.”

“I…” Sorey swallows. “Okay.”

“We need to give it some time.” Mikleo says. “You don’t know me, not really. I don’t know if I can…” He trails off, looking out into the night.

“I understand.” Sorey says and he smiles even though it hurts. “I just wanted you to know how I felt...I’ll give you whatever you need. Time, space…”

“No space.” Mikleo says quickly. “Not that.”

“Okay.” Sorey agrees and he feels relieved. He never wants to be apart from Mikleo, even if sitting beside him right now like this hurts.

For a long time, they’re both quiet. Sorey hurts, but its bearable. He thinks of Edna’s brother, of Zaveid. That won’t happen to him. He can bear this. And maybe someday...he looks sidelong at Mikleo. Maybe someday he won’t have to.

“So…” Mikleo says after a while, “Sorey of the New Dawn, huh?”

“Novae Diluculo.” Sorey says. “It’s weird.”

“It’s a good name.” Mikleo says with a smile. “Granted, I expected Sorey the Ruin Geek or Sorey the Feathered Idiot…”

“Oh, shut up.”

They both laugh and the hurt in Sorey’s chest lessens a little.

“You don’t know mine, do you?” Mikleo says, looking at Sorey with soft eyes.

“I...no.” Sorey admits. “I don’t.”

“You should.” Mikleo whispers. “I know yours now, after all.”

“You don’t have to…” Sorey tries, but Mikleo shakes his head and angles himself towards Sorey. He takes one of Sorey’s hands in both of his.

Sorey’s breath hitches.

Mikleo leans in a fraction and, his eyes still glistening, he murmurs two words in Sorey’s ear.

“Luzrov Rulay.”

Mikleo the enforcer. Mikleo the carrier. Mikelo the one who stays. Mikleo the one who is always by his side.

The two words hit him like a punch to the gut, like falling off the side of a cliff, like plunging headfirst into icy water. They hit him like a lifetime of memories because he hears those words and all of the sudden every memory that he couldn’t recall comes bursting to the surface like they were never gone.

“Mikleo.” He says, soft and with wonder. “You…”

“Don’t make it a big deal.” Mikleo says with an embarrassed smile. “I just thought it would be fair if…”

“No, Mikleo!” Sorey grabs Mikleo’s shoulders and shakes him a little bit. “Mikleo, it’s you!”

“Sorey!” Mikleo huffs. “What are you doing?”

“I remember you!” He says and smiles so widely that it hurts. “Mikleo, I remember everything!”

“Sorey, what…”

“Ha!” He grins. “I knew it would work! Just like that time Lailah made me hold my breath!”

“Sorey?” Mikleo is looking at him with wide, almost panicked eyes.

“And so many people can see seraphim now.” Sorey can’t stop. He’s just so excited. “Back before, it was basically just me and Rose! Mikleo, we stayed in a city where people and seraphim were living side-by-side. Mikleo…” He shakes Mikleo again. “Our dream! It happened!”

“You remember our dream?” Mikleo sounds breathless.

“Mikleo,” Sorey says and he grins as wide as he can, “I remember all of it.”

Mikleo expression twists into something that is shock and amazement and joy all at once. He moves his hands up to Sorey’s face and away again, like he doesn’t know what to do with them. “Sorey…” He says softly and his voice is tinged with something like wonder.

And there’s nothing else that Sorey has ever wanted more in his whole life, so he leans in and kisses Mikleo before he can come up with a reason not to.

Sorey kisses him and it’s messy and warm and a little wet because they’re both crying a bit.

“I missed you so much.” Mikleo says when they break apart and Sorey wipes the tears from his cheeks.

“I know.” Sorey laughs. “I know! I missed you too and you promised me...oh, Mikleo.” Sorey kisses him again and again, quick and sloppy and probably kind of gross but he doesn’t care. “You’ve done such a good job!”

Mikleo just shakes his head, like he can’t believe this. Sorey decides to do the smart thing and kiss him again. It goes deep and neither of them is very experienced, but by the time they break apart they’re both panting.

“Man, I can’t believe we waited so long to do this.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Mikleo mumbles, but grabs Sorey around the waist and pulls him in close. Sorey is content to lean against Mikleo’s chest and listen to his heartbeat.

“There’s so much I wanna do, wanna see.” He says, reaching up to tug a piece of Mikleo’s hair that has come loose. He likes it long, he’s decided. It likes it short too. He likes everything about Mikleo, all of the time.

“We can see it all.” Mikleo promises. “I’ll take you anywhere, everywhere, I’ll show the whole world.”

“Good.” Sorey says with a grin. “I want to see it.”

Sorey snuggles closer to Mikleo. He smells like sweets and rain and home. “Thank you.” Sorey says, realizing he’s apologized about a hundred times, but he’s never said thanks. “Thank you for waiting for me.”

“Thank you for coming back.” Mikleo responds, holding him a bit tighter.

“I won’t leave you again.” Sorey says.

“You promise?” Mikleo asks.

Sorey leans up to kiss him and smiles against his lips.

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this story is 100000% pure, unfiltered cheese but...it made me happy to write so whatever~
> 
> (also fun fact this whole story was supposed to be 4k words MAX but i am a ridiculous human who is incapable of writing a thing that is not also mini-novel, so...yeah. enjoy all of my messy zesteria feelings~)

**Author's Note:**

> hi all~ 
> 
> ive meant to write something for zesteria for a while now so im happy to finally have this up! im working on a few different things right now, so the next chapter likely wont be up for a while! but it will get done...i love writing these lame archaeology boyfriends so much you have no idea
> 
> tumblr is [here](http://theroadgoesawayfromhere.tumblr.com/), if youre into that kinda thing


End file.
